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Top journalism schools in Australia

[See also: Sally Jackson: “What makes a good school of journalism” (The Australian, 21 Sep 2006). and also: “Why we need journalism school rankings” (Editorialiste Blogspot, May 2007).]

Which is the best journalism school in Australia? There is no national “league table” of journalism courses and programs, but surveys of graduating students’ assessments provide one important basis for ranking journalism schools and colleges. Annual course experience questionnaires provide evidence of new graduates’ opinions of their courses, with levels of satisfaction gauged on the basis of student responses to specific questions designed to tap various aspects of their courses.

Surveys of their graduates are conducted each year by universities with results collated nationally by the Graduate Careers Council of Australia (www.graduatecareers.com.au). Separately, the basic survey instrument, where respondents indicate their level of agreement or disagreement on a five-point scale, is administered to Jschool students after completion of their course.

Comparing the results, Jschool ranks as one of the top journalism schools in the three core scales: overall satisfaction, good teaching and generic skills.

For each scale the percentages indicating satisfaction or high satisfaction (“agree” plus “strongly agree” responses) for institutions teaching undergraduate journalism courses are as follows:

 

2005 survey

Overall satisfaction

Question: Overall, I was satisfied with the quality of this course.

Position College Percentage

(% high + very high satisfaction)

Top Five
=1. Jschool: Journalism Education & Training 100
=1. University of the Sunshine Coast 100
=1. University of Western Sydney 100
=4. Murdoch University 88
=4. University of Technology, Sydney 88

Next Five
6. University of Canberra 77
7. La Trobe University 75
8. University of South Australia 74
9. Deakin University 73
10. Monash University 72

11. University of Tasmania 70
12. University of Southern Queensland 68
13. Griffith University 67
14. Queensland University of Technology 63
=15. James Cook University 61
=15. Curtin University of Technology 61
=17. Bond University 60
=17. RMIT University 60
19. Edith Cowan University 57
=20. University of Newcastle 52
=20. University of Queensland 52
=22. Charles Sturt University 50
=22. University of Wollongong 50
23. Southern Cross University 45
NATIONAL AVERAGE (Overall satisfaction) 66.5

Good teaching scale

Position College Percentage

Top Five
1. University of the Sunshine Coast 92
2. Jschool: Journalism Education & Training 83
3. Murdoch University 68
4. University of Tasmania 67
5. University of Western Sydney 67

Next Five
6. University of Canberra 66
7. University of Technology, Sydney 62
8. Deakin University 58
9. La Trobe University 57
10. James Cook University 55

11. University of South Australia 54
12. University of Southern Queensland 53
13. RMIT University 52
14. University of Newcastle 49
15. Southern Cross University 46
16. Edith Cowan University 43
17. Monash University 43
=18. Griffith University 42
=18. University of Queensland 42
20. Bond University 40
21. Queensland University of Technology 39
22. Curtin University of Technology 38
=23. Charles Sturt University 25
=23. University of Wollongong 25
NATIONAL AVERAGE (Good teaching) 50.8

Generic skills scale

Position College Percentage

Top Five
1. Murdoch University 84
2. Jschool: Journalism Education & Training 81
3. University of the Sunshine Coast 75
=4. La Trobe University 71
=4. University of Technology, Sydney 71

Next Five
=6. Curtin University of Technology 70
=6. University of Canberra 70
8. University of Western Sydney 69
=9. James Cook University 68
=9. RMIT University 68

11. Griffith University 67
12. University of Newcastle 66
13. University of South Australia 63
14. Deakin University 62
15. University of Queensland 61
16. Southern Cross University 57
=17. Monash University 56
=17. University of Tasmania 56
=19. Edith Cowan University 55
=19. Queensland University of Technology 55
21. Bond University 53
22. University of Southern Queensland 51
23. Charles Sturt University 42
24. University of Wollongong 33
NATIONAL AVERAGE (Generic skills) 64.5%
Percentages are rounded

= denotes equal rank
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