Deakin flunks in university ratings

By Geelong Story Updates
Geelong’s Deakin University has flunked on the prospects of its graduates, according to a guide rating Australian universities.
The Good Universities Guide 2008 put Deakin at the bottom of the class for graduate employment and outcomes.
Deakin earned one star out of five in both categories.
The university’s highest rating was four stars for cultural diversity, while it earned three each for entry flexibility and research grants.
The guide’s rating for Deakin graduate starting salaries was two stars.
Top marks in both graduate employment and positive outcomes went to Australian Catholic, Bond and Notre Dame universities. Bond also earned five stars for starting salaries.
In a statement, the 2008 guide called itself “Australia’s only definitive guide to university performance”.
The guide said it used government data and graduate destinations surveys with “internationally recognised standards in rating methodology” to judge universities.
The 2008 guide compared 38 universities across 25 performance indicators.
Deakin shrugged off the ratings.
Pro vicechancellor Dr Irene Irvine cast doubt over whether the guide was useful for choosing a university.
“Some caution needs to be exercised in comparing the data relating to graduate employment and outcomes between universities,” Dr Irvine said.
“For the guide’s ratings table in its media release, data for outcomes is averaged across undergraduate courses from each university then each university is compared.
“Graduate employment and outcomes reflect specific industries at a point in time in the past. The data for graduate employment and outcomes does not necessarily reflect current or future outcomes for students currently at university or who will enrol in the future.”
Dr Irvine advised students to use information from a range of sources such as careers advisers and university students to make a “balanced decision” on where to enrol.
She pointed out that some Deakin courses, such as nursing and law, had 100 per cent employment rates.
“Overall, the message relating to a Deakin University education is very positive.”