Campus Review Volume 28 - Issue 10 | October 2018 | Page 7

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Employability rankings
Two Australian universities again crack top 10.
By Dallas Bastian
G
raduates from the Universities of Sydney and Melbourne
are among the most employable in the world.
That’s according to the 2019 edition of the Graduate
Employability Rankings, released by higher education analysts QS
Quacquarelli Symonds.
Ben Sowter, research director at QS, said rises in tuition fees and an
ever-more-competitive job market were making students increasingly
concerned about the likelihood that their prospective university
would help them thrive afterwards.
“This ranking is designed to empower them to make more informed
choices, and indicates that those universities that have excellent
research profiles and global reputations aren’t always those that do the
most to nurture student employability,” Sowter said.
The QS ranking compares data on 500 universities, specifically
looking at their ability to provide students with a successful career.
Despite dropping down one position from the previous year to 5th,
USYD was again named Australia’s top university under the scale.
Vice-chancellor and principal Dr Michael Spence said the university
recently transformed its undergraduate curriculum to ensure
graduates become adaptable and creative thinkers.
“As part of the new Sydney Undergraduate Experience, all students
have the opportunity to take on real-world industry, community,
research and entrepreneurship projects,” Spence said.
UniMelb, Australia’s other top 10 university, moved up one place to
6th. It’s the institution’s second jump in as many years, before which it
was ranked 11th.
Glyn Davis, the university’s departing vice-chancellor, said UniMelb
was focused on producing graduates with a “highly desirable and
employable blend of technical and interpersonal skills”.
“Professional life for graduates is becoming more complex, and
universities must equip their students with a more diverse skill set,”
he said.
Overall, 18 Australian universities were ranked among the top 500.
Eight reached the global top 100.
Sowter said the results prove “heartening reading” for Australian
institutions. “Metric-by-metric results [indicate] that the national
higher education sector is proving highly proactive in engaging with
employers, inviting them to campus to allow students to expand their
networks, and fostering alumni that are able to reach the very top of
their fields.”
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) topped the 2019
list, followed by Stanford University, the University of California, Los
Angeles (UCLA), and Harvard University. ■
QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2019: Australian Entrants
2019 2018 2019
Rank Rank QSWUR
Institution
5 4 42 The University of Sydney
6 7 39 The University of Melbourne
28 36 45 The University of New South Wales (UNSW)
48 49 48 The University of Queensland (UQ)
59 79 59= Monash University
64 69 160= University of Technology Sydney (UTS)
73 84 24 85 97 250= RMIT University
101-110 111-120 244= Queensland University of Technology (QUT)
111-120 121-130 250= Macquarie University
181-190 171-180 114 The University of Adelaide
181-190 181-190 218= University of Wollongong
201-250 251-300 250= Curtin University
251-300 301-500 397= La Trobe University
301-500 251-300 387= Swinburne University of Technology
301-500 301-500 214= University of Newcastle
301-500 301-500 264= University of South Australia (UniSA)
301-500 301-500 498= Western Sydney University
Australian National University (ANU)
© QS Quacquarelli Symonds 2004-2018. https://www.topuniversities.com/
All rights reserved
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