The 2017 Student Experience Survey of more than 206,000 students shows that the overwhelming majority of undergraduates (79 per cent) were satisfied with their higher educational experience.
Around the same number of postgraduate students (76 per cent) were positive about their educational experience.
Universities Australia Chief Executive Designate Catriona Jackson welcomed the results, saying there was good reason for students to be happy with the quality of education they received.
“The strong results are a tribute to our world-class higher education system and the incredibly high standards it maintains,” Ms Jackson said.
“The survey results also show that the vast majority of students are happy with the skills development, teaching quality and learning resources in their university degrees,” she said.
This year’s results confirm a long-standing trend, with student satisfaction remaining consistently high at around 80 per cent since the survey was first conducted in 2011.
“Yet again this major survey confirms that year in year out, when it comes to education, our universities deliver,” Ms Jackson said.
“This is why our universities are the envy of the world. They provide our graduates, from both Australia and the far corners of the globe, with high-quality experiences that give them the skills, and knowledge to succeed.”
Ms Jackson added that the strong and consistent results showed that the Government’s plans to implement performance funding for universities was unnecessary.
“It would be like getting students to resubmit an assignment when they’ve already got top marks,” she said.
“It just doesn’t make sense.”
The 2017 survey was funded by the Australian Government as part of the Quality Indicators of Teaching and Learning (QILT) survey program.
Ms Jackson said it demonstrates universities’ ongoing commitment to transparency for students and their families.
“We 100 per cent support QILT and the important work that it does. This survey gives students important information as they consider what and where to study,” Ms Jackson said.
