Smaller unis did better in the Covid stress test, say students

Smaller universities generally managed the problems of Covid better than larger ones, a new student survey suggests

Australian universities like to be large. They are big by world standards and one of the remedies offered for host of problems (are rankings not high enough? Are there persistent deficits?) is to merge and get even bigger.

The 2020 student experience survey, taken in the middle of last year when the sector was struggling with COVID restrictions, has something interesting to say about university size. Students say they have a better experience at institutions with fewer students.

The student experience survey is a massive, government-sanctioned affair which last year took in the views of over 280,000 students. In a usual year the proportion of students who say they are satisfied overall with their experience ranges between 75 and 85 per cent. Last year, with universities tested by COVID, the range was much bigger.

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The University of Melbourne plunged 25.3 percentage points to a student satisfaction level of only 52.3 per cent. Over half of universities found themselves under 70 per cent. Yet some of best-performing universities succeeded in limiting the impact of the lockdown and the rapid shift to online classes on their student satisfaction level. Edith Cowan fell only 1.8 percentage points, CQUniversity was down 2.2, New England was down 2.6 and Bond was down 2.9.

The interesting correlation between size of university (measured by the number of full-time equivalent students) and student satisfaction level is evident in the scatter plot. It shows that bigger universities were generally less successful in handling the problems of operating during COVID, at least in the view of students.

H I E D Studnet s

Think of it as a stress test in which university systems and processes were pushed to the limit. The smaller institutions generally did better.

Of course this is not the full story. Universities in Melbourne had to deal with the very long COVID lockdown. But even there the big three — Melbourne, Monash and RMIT — did worst. Universities which already had a large online presence managed better too. But, overall, the message is that big is not always beautiful. Universities in SA, contemplating a merger, should take note.