Vice Chancellor Professor Paul Wellings. Photo: ROBERT PEET
The University of Wollongong has outranked every other Australian university in the key categories of educational experience and graduate outcomes in the 2013 Good Universities Guide.
The guide, released today, shows the university scored five stars in the three educational experience categories of "teaching quality", "generic skills" and "graduate satisfaction".
It also scored five stars in each of the three graduate outcomes categories of "graduate starting salary", "getting a full-time job" and "positive graduate outcomes".
It was the only university to receive five stars in each of those six categories this year.
"We have received the maximum five stars in some of these categories before but a perfect 30 for these teaching/learning indicators is an outstanding achievement," Vice-Chancellor Paul Wellings said.
It is the 13th consecutive year that UOW has achieved five-star ratings for the categories of "getting a full-time job" and "positive graduate outcomes".
"The student experience is core to everything done at UOW. From the time a student starts at Wollongong, they are immersed in an active campus community with academic support and social activities that ensure their time is academically and socially fulfilling," Professor Wellings said.
The Good Universities Guide provides the only independent five-star performance ratings of Australian undergraduate courses and their providers.
It draws its information from the federal Department of Education, Science and Training as well as the results of the national Graduate Destination Surveys.
Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Professor John Patterson, said while UOW did well in all categories, scoring full marks for these two student-centred categories was particularly pleasing.
"These rankings come from the exit survey of graduating students, so it shows that UOW students are very satisfied with their experience," he said.
"A university's reputation is driven by its research quality and status, however ultimately they exist for students in education, so for the students' educational experience and outcomes to be recognised by an external body is unbelievable."
Prof Patterson said talented teachers, academic support and facilities helped make the student experience at Wollongong a good one.
"This is a relatively small university, and it's still at a size where we are able to be personable, where students are names, not numbers," he said.
"We maintain a strong tutorial focus and we put a lot of time into selecting academics who have a passion and ability for teaching.
"Throw that in with the outstanding physical environment here at the university, and it's a very good package for students."