Best SA universities helping students to land a full-time job

Which degree is more likely to get you a job – one from a regional university or a prestigious “sandstone’’ institution? See the results from a major new study.

Students at regional universities are more likely to land a job than graduates from prestigious “sandstone’’ institutions.

Only two big-city universities are among the top 10 for graduate employment this year, exclusive new data obtained by The Advertiser reveals.

Among the top eight universities, at least three-quarters of last year’s graduates found full-time work this year.

But in the worst-performing universities, more than half the graduates were still hunting for a full-time job, four months after finishing their degree.

In South Australia, the top-ranked tertiary institution on this metric is the University of South Australia, where more than two-thirds of last year’s graduates found full-time work within four months.

Student nurse Charly Betzold, 23, is doing clinical placement work in an Adelaide hospital, and hopes to find a full-time job when she graduates at the end of the year.

“I wanted a person-to-person job where I could connect and help people at their most vulnerable,’’ she said.

“Especially with COVID-19, nurses are a priority – a lot of people lost their jobs, but nursing is a job you need more of.

“The university’s practical side of things is very good, and prepares you a lot for your clinical placement.’’

University of South Australia nursing student Charly Betzold. Picture: Supplied

University of South Australia vice-chancellor Professor David Lloyd said the university had strong partnerships with industry and focused on “graduating job-ready students who can move seamlessly into employment’’.

He said the university had a Career Service to help students write job applications and resumes, with practice psychological assessments and mock job interviews.

“Our students have access to placements, internships, industry professors, experiential learning, and guest lectures from those working in industry,’’ he said.

UniSA’s Bachelor of Nursing students complete 1000 hours of clinical placements in aged care homes and medical clinics.

They also learn in simulated clinics called “horizon hospitals’’.

UniSA’s employment rate of 67.8 per cent is higher than the 63 per cent for its rivals, the University of Adelaide and Flinders University.

At the Australian Catholic University, which has a campus in Adelaide, 72.4 per cent of graduates found work within four months.

Charles Sturt University, based in regional NSW, is the nation’s best for job prospects, with 84.7 per cent of students finding full-time work within four months of graduating.

The nation’s worst-performing universities for job outcomes are in Victoria and Western Australia.

Barely 54 per cent of students at the University of Western Australia and Murdoch University were in full-time work four months after graduation.

Across Australia, 68.7 per cent of university graduates found full-time work within four months of graduating – down from 72.2 per cent in 2019.

Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan said nine out of 10 Australian university graduates find full-time work within three years of graduation.

He said the COVID-19 pandemic had a “major impact’’ on graduate employment rates this year.

He said the federal government would spend $550 million for up to 30,000 extra university places next year, as well as short courses for Australians to upskill during the COVID-19 recession.

The federal Department of Education survey does not reveal whether graduates found work in the same field they studied at university.

It says graduates from regional universities are more likely to be older, and to study externally and part-time.

Federal Education Minister Dan Tehan. Picture: Supplied

“(They) are more likely to have completed vocational degrees and … have also fared better in the current downturn,’’ it says.

The Education Department says the COVID-19 recession had cut full-time employment rates among most university graduates this year.

“Graduates from regional universities are more likely to be older, studying externally and part-time, and maintain a continuing connection with the labour market,’’ it says.

“(This) explains, in part, why graduates from these universities may have fared better in the current downturn.’’

The employment rates are based on graduates looking for full-time work, four months after finishing an undergraduate degree.

Originally published as Best SA universities helping students to land a full-time job