WA students must decide between experience and outcomes

August 28, 2013

WA universities are a mixed bag when it comes to providing their students with an enjoyable educational experience as well as sound employment outcomes, according to The Good Universities Guide 2014.

In the graduate outcomes ratings, which rank universities according to their graduates’ success in finding employment, UWA was the best in the state, achieving five stars for ‘Getting a Full-time Job’ and ‘Positive Graduate Outcomes’. ECU and Curtin, on the other hand, achieved only one star in these areas.

The opposite was true for the educational experience ratings, which reflect graduates’ satisfaction with their university experience, with ECU achieving five stars for ‘Teaching Quality’ and ‘Generic Skills’ in comparison to UWA’s one star.

The Good Universities Guide’s data manager, Ross White, said that prospective students should consider both graduate outcomes and educational experience when choosing a university, although which of these holds greater value is something they will need to decide for themselves.

“Graduate outcomes are important because prospective students want to know that there’ll be a job waiting for them at the end of their time at uni. Educational experience is important because they want to know that their course will meet their expectations for things like teaching quality and generic skills,” Mr White said. 

A UWA spokesperson attributed the university’s success in the graduate outcomes ratings to its faculty’s close connections with employers and the range of practical work placements it provides, adding that the transition to its new curriculum structure is expected to improve educational experience ratings in future years.

“It is also likely that, because UWA students are a very high-achieving cohort, they have commensurate high expectations,” the spokesperson commented.

ECU Vice-Chancellor Kerry Cox said that the university’s strength in the educational experience ratings reflects its focus on the quality of the student experience and suggested that students should choose a degree that meets their needs rather than focusing on “perceptions of prestige or brand”.

“My advice to students is that they should base their decision on identifying a course that they will be passionate about and then match that to a university that can provide that course in a form that suits the learner,” Professor Cox said.

Despite the inconsistent ratings achieved by the state’s main providers, the University of Notre Dame, which is one of the smallest universities in the country, proved that it is possible to excel in both educational experience and graduate outcomes.

The university was the state’s best all-rounder, earning five stars in the educational experience categories of ‘Teaching Quality’ and ‘Generic Skills’, as well as four stars for ‘Getting a Full-time Job’.

“Notre Dame’s comparatively small size allows for an unrivalled level of student care in education delivery, pastoral care and community engagement, and also lends itself to a level of dynamism not available at other universities,” Notre Dame Vice-Chancellor Professor Celia Hammond said.

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