The Good Universities Guide 2017 — out now

The 2017 edition of The Good Universities Guide was released last month and features comprehensive information about Australian higher education providers and their courses, and new five-star performance ratings.

The 2017 ratings showed that universities with a high proportion of mature age, part-time or distance education students performed well when it came to graduate outcomes, making up five of the top eight universities in the ‘overall salary’ and ‘overall employment’ categories. The University of Western Australia’s median graduate salary came out on top at $63,000, while Charles Sturt University and the University of Southern Queensland both had the highest employment rate of 84 per cent.

Overall salary

Overall employment

Charles Darwin University*

$60,000 (★★★★★)

82% (★★★★★)

CQUniversity Australia*

$60,000 (★★★★★)

81% (★★★★★)

Charles Sturt University*

$60,000 (★★★★★)

84% (★★★★★)

University of New England*

$60,000 (★★★★★)

75% (★★★★★)

University of Southern Queensland*

$60,000 (★★★★★)

84% (★★★★★)

University of Notre Dame Australia

$59,800 (★★★★★)

79% (★★★★★)

Edith Cowan University

$59,500 (★★★★★)

63%

University of Western Australia

$63,000 (★★★★★)

69%

James Cook University

$56,000

75% (★★★★★)

UNSW Australia

$59,000

77% (★★★★★)

Notes: * denotes that a university has a high proportion of mature age, part-time or distance education students. Universities are awarded five stars if they fall within the top 20 per cent of all universities in each given category

On the student experience side of things, Australia’s two private universities — Bond University and the University of Notre Dame Australia — were front runners, topping each of the six fields between them. Three universities — Edith Cowan University, the University of Wollongong and Bond University — were awarded five stars for all six categories: Learner Engagement, Learning Resources, Overall Quality of Educational Experience, Skills Development, Student Support and Teaching Quality.

The Good Universities Guide 2017 is available for purchase through the Good Education Bookshop.