Employers give USQ low vote

Uni ranks lowest in survey

EMPLOYER satisfaction with University of Southern Queensland graduates is at 77 per cent - the lowest of 41 Australian institutions surveyed.

The Department of Education and Training’s Employer Satisfaction Survey, released this week, gave USQ graduates a rating below the national average of 84%.

Vice-Chancellor Geraldine Mackenzie did not comment on the last-place ranking, instead focused on attributes where USQ ranked above the national average.

“USQ graduates performed above the national average for the technical attributes, which reflects USQ’s focus on preparing graduates who have high-level professional and technical knowledge,” she said.

The university was below the national average for all other attributes.

USQ has one of the highest employability rates of any university. — Geraldine Mackenzie

Prof Mackenzie also pointed out the university’s good performances in other higher learning rankings.

“USQ was recognised by the 2018 Good Universities Guide as having graduates with the highest starting salary in the country,” she said.

About 4000 employers were surveyed across Australia.

Just 93 employers who hired USQ graduates responded.

The results follow a government report in December that said USQ had one of the nation’s lowest course completion rates.