News

Graduates of Avondale College rate the quality of their education more highly than the graduates of 80 per cent of Australian universities.

The 2008 edition of The good universities guide gives Avondale top five-star ratings for quality of teaching, employable generic skills and overall student satisfaction. These ratings are based on surveys of higher education graduates conducted by a federal government agency, Graduate Careers Australia.

President Dr John Cox describes the categories of teaching quality, generic skills and student satisfaction as the key indicators of the quality of an undergraduate student's educational experience.

"I'm not surprised our graduates are satisfied," says Dr Cox. "Avondale has a consistently higher graduate employment rate than most universities. And a high proportion of Avondale graduates proceed to successful postgraduate study."

Avondale's high staff to student ratio compared to most higher education providers contributes to a sense of graduate satisfaction. "Our students have more interdisciplinary interaction and better access to staff members," he says.

Avondale has consistently received five-star ratings for teaching quality, generic skills and overall satisfaction for the past 10 years. It also received five stars this year for the proportion of its staff members who hold higher degrees by research or coursework.

The good universities guide, which is on sale from today (August 17), gives ratings for Australian universities, Avondale and a small number of other higher education colleges.