MyUniversity offers alternative to university rankings

THINKING of studying in Australia but not sure which university’s your best fit? MyUniversity breaks it down for you, helping you compare universities across the country according to the criteria you care about the most. But as Luke Henriques-Gomes reports, the website is not without its critics.

Prospective international students can now compare and contrast Australian universities from the comfort of their own living room.

The new MyUniversity website allows students to evaluate universities across a range of criteria including course structure, fee information, demographics and student satisfaction.

The website lets users search by course or university and offers an alternative to the widely available university rankings used to compare institutions globally.

Tertiary Education Minister Chris Evans said the website will make life easier for prospective students.

“MyUniversity will help ensure students have all the relevant information to make an informed decision about what’s best for them,” Senator Evans said.

“Giving students information about employment prospects is important to ensure we are able to directly link education choices to areas of employment growth.”

Senator Evans added the website will help improve performance and transparency in the university system.

But many in the tertiary education sector disagree.

The National Tertiary Education Union (NTEU) has criticised MyUniversity, saying it does not learn from the mistakes of MySchool.

MySchool is the primary and secondary education equivalent of MyUniversity, which drew criticism for only allowing a narrow scope for comparison when launched by the Federal Government in 2010.

NTEU President, Jeannie Rea says the information on MyUniversity is at best limited and at worst inaccurate and misleading.

“If students were looking to base their choice of institution on whether the campus has an ATM, this site is useful,” she said.

“If, however, they want an indication of the quality of teaching and research at any given institution, the information provided relies on a set of indicators under question for many years.

“The diversity of Australian universities makes it a difficult task to attempt any comparisons and is another misguided attempt to compare apples with oranges.”

Have you used MyUniversity? Was it a helpful resource? Let us know below.