Rankings measuring student experience, graduate employment outcomes and starting salaries have placed Australia's regional universities on top.
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Rankings measuring student experience, graduate employment outcomes and starting salaries have placed Australia's regional universities on top.
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Dear Colleagues
I worked in a regional university for over 20 years so (CSU) am more than familiar with their operations. The above story implies that a graduating student from a regional university will have a higher starting salary and a greater chance of securing employment. In fact, the regional universities often use this data as part of their marketing campaigns.
What they don’t share is the fact that a vast majority of such students are often mature age, studying part-time, online and by definition, tend to be working full-time with salaries that are commensurate with the age and experience of the student/employee.
A better measure would be to capture data that compares like with like; similar qualifications, similar age and experience, and then see how the universities compare. My bet is that the regional universities would not fare so well.
I tend to agree with you Mark. I don’t know if it’s already been done but it’s really important to have the students’ demographic information and existing employment background as factors being controlled for in predicting outcomes such as salaries and employment prospects.
Hi Mark,
You are half right. One could also argue that the cohort to more elite universities is superior and therefore there should be higher starting salaries on average from these universities. So in the end you need to compare universities with a similar age profile perhaps.
I also work at CSU after working after working at a range of universities and I must admit I am impressed with the standard here. I guess the question is why do mature aged and mid career people choose CSU over other institutions like say RMIT?
Steve
I think you have missed the point of the discussion. The thrust of the article was that regional universities (which by the way are fine institutions and I am proud to have worked at CSU) produce graduates with higher starting salaries. Why a student chooses one university over another is a separate issue, and on that point, RMIT, like many universities including CSU attracts a wide demographic of students.
Other than the possible explanation I offered, what other reasons may account for regional universities producing graduates with higher starting salaries, especially if such students are not superior?
On a different note, I agree with you that CSU has excellent students. The standard is high and as the ex MBA Director at CSU I can say that the students on that program were truly excellent.
cheers
Mark