The University of Sunshine Coast has placed equal fifth for “overall satisfaction” in a national employer satisfaction survey of 41 universities nationwide.

The Federal Government’s Department of Education and Training today released the 2018 Employer Satisfaction Survey report which shows that USC graduates remain among the country’s most highly valued by employers.

USC scored an 87.3 percent “overall satisfaction” rating among employers, well above the national average of 84.3 percent.

The rating indicates the likelihood of an employer considering hiring another graduate from the same course and institution.

USC is joined in the top table by Bond University, James Cook University, University of Wollongong, Western Sydney University and places equal fifth with The University of Queensland.

USC Acting Vice-Chancellor Professor Tim Wess said the position continues a strong track record for the University.

“This result speaks volumes about the work-readiness of regional university graduates,” Professor Wess said.

“USC is strongly focused on preparing students to shine in the workforce, so to see employers responding enthusiastically to our graduates is affirming to us that we’re making an impact.

“And when we break it down by attributes valued by employers, USC actually topped the country for their ability to adapt and apply skills and knowledge and work independently.”

USC ranked above the national average across the five attributes surveyed, and placed second in the country for Employability (90.6 percent) and Collaborative (91.6 percent), third in the country for Technical (95.4 percent) and Foundation (95.5 percent), which covers general literacy, numeracy and communication skills.

The Employer Satisfaction Survey is part of the Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching survey suite which is independently administered by the Social Research Centre on behalf of the Department of Education and Training.

USC Media: Janelle Kirkland, 07 5459 4553 or jkirklan@usc.edu.au