New Zealand’s universities may be rising in world rankings but that shouldn’t be the most important factor for high school graduates and parents picking one.
Universities New Zealand Chris Whelan says future students need to take university rankings, "with a grain of salt".
"Generally 70 per cent of the rankings are driven by research, which isn’t very useful unless you’re about to do a PhD," he said.
"Employers are asked how much they value graduates from those institutions, so they can be useful but students should look carefully at what they are getting."
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Whelan said university culture, what courses are offered, and the academic focus on the university should be put before rank.
Victoria University of Wellington undergraduate student James Armenti said he looked at going to the University of Auckland because of its high ranking but, "the city itself was a bigger priority".
"I don’t like Auckland, even though its university [is] highly ranked, didn’t like Hamilton even though Waikato University offers the best Bachelor of Commerce curriculum in New Zealand," he said.
"I came to Wellington for my 18th birthday and partied with my best friend. We were both like ‘let’s go to uni here this city is sick’."
Universities will typically do everything they can to maximise their rank because a higher ranking attracts world class academic staff who are able to do good research, Whelan said.
This increases the university’s international research profile and perceived student experience, which drives up domestic and international student numbers, increasing income at a level where quality teaching can be maintained.
And so the cycle continues.
The University of Canterbury, for example, improved 50 places this year to rank in the group of 351-400, equal with Victoria University of Wellington. But this wasn’t because undergrad teaching quality soared.
University of Canterbury Vice-Chancellor Rod Carr said the rank result "follows a long-term trend of increased research effort".
"We are the most research intensive of New Zealand’s universities and have a very research active academic staff," he said.
"UC has over 1000 students enrolled in its PhD programmes for the fourth year running."
Australia’s Grattan Institute higher education director Andrew Norton said prospective undergraduate students shouldn’t use university rankings at all.
"They are driven by factors that aren’t entirely reliable … that aren’t guides to the undergraduate experience," he said.
Norton also agreed rankings are determined largely by research and studies found no strong link between higher quality research and teaching quality.
His advice is to use local information specific to the courses a student is looking to study.
WHAT STUDENTS SHOULD BE LOOKING FOR
What university rankings don’t assess is campus life and culture.
If movies are anything to go by, university is heralded as a place to go wild, party in dorm rooms, and skip class to get high and eat pizza with new life-long friends. But a recent survey of 43000 university students in Canada found more than 66 per cent reported feeling "very lonely" in the past year. And almost half the students felt "debilitatingly depressed".
Careers New Zealand Principal Advisor Pat Cody said it is important students looking at universities talk to others who have done the course before so they know what it will be like.
"Check it out, check the institution and the surrounding environment not just at their open days. You have to think about the broader living environment," he said.
"Those small things on campus can make quite a bit of difference to your experience."
Cody also recommended prospective students have a clear idea of what skills they want to achieve while studying.
"What career ideas are in your head that you think this course is going to lead to? It is keeping the end in mind and being clear about what your motives are."
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