UW students have a high overall satisfaction with university performance, according to the recently released UW Student Satisfaction Survey that received 2,437 responses from among the total student population of about 12,000 students.
Administered entirely online in March, the results were compiled from two separate surveys: the ACT Student Opinion Survey and the Noel-Levitz Student Satisfaction Index from Ruffalo Noel Levitz, a research company focused on studies of the US higher education system. 3,100 students were randomly invited by email to join one or the other, and about a third of those invited responded to each.
“General satisfaction is high across all academic classes, although slightly lower among seniors,” emeritus (retired) professor of political science, Dr. Oliver Walter, wrote in his report of the survey.
93 percent of students who responded indicated that they were “pleased” with the education they were receiving at UW. Another question asked if students would enroll at UW again if they had to “do it over,” with results ranging from 93 percent of freshmen saying they would to 79 percent of seniors, with a bump up to 85 percent of graduate students. 76 percent of students said their tuition was a worthwhile investment.
Students expressed lower satisfaction in the purposes to which student fees were directed, with a 39 percent positive/21 percent negative response from the ACT survey and a 60 percent positive/23 percent negative response from the Noel-Levitz survey.
Around 40 percent of students were satisfied in their own ability to influence college politics and in student government, though many students did not express an opinion here.
1,008 open comments answered the question “what disappoints you most about UW?” with UW’s parking accommodations at the top (10 percent of comments), followed by “uncaring” professors (8.9 percent), class availability and convenience (7.9 percent) and cost (6.9 percent).
47 comments stated UW seemed “too liberal” and expressed disappointment with limits on concealed carry, while 11 stated it seemed “too conservative.” 56 focused on complaints about Laramie’s weather.
The survey also found that 57 percent of students using UW’s job placement service rated it positively, but the percent of students using it has fallen to 5 percent in 2018, down from 18 percent in 1996.
About 60 percent of students expressed satisfaction with on-campus living and dining conditions.
The full survey, including specific responses and an account of its administration, is publicly available on UW’s website.
