Survey: Students more satisfied at academic colleges than universities

Afeka College of Engineering in Tel Aviv received the highest rating by students standing at 4.09 on a scale of 1, the worst to 5, the best.

By LIDAR GRAVÉ-LAZI
Tel Aviv University campus (photo credit: PR)
Tel Aviv University campus
(photo credit: PR)
Students in academic colleges in Israel are more satisfied than their counterparts studying at universities, according to a survey by the National Union of Israeli Students (NUIS) released Friday.
The 2014 Student Survey, now in its fifth year, is conducted annually by the Ma’agar Mochot research institute among 12,228 students studying at higher education institutions throughout the country.
According to the results, Afeka College of Engineering in Tel Aviv received the highest rating by students, 4.09 on a scale of 1 to 5, with 5 the best.
Also making the top 10 list of academic institutions was the College of Management Academic Studies in Rishon Lezion and the Interdisciplinary Center in Herzliya, which received second and third place respectively.
The only university to make the top 10 list was the Open University, with a rating of 3.76.
The Weizmann Institute of Science was ranked 11th, while the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology was ranked 20th with a score of 3.59. The Hebrew University of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv University were ranked 23rd and 26th, respectively.
Bar-Ilan University and Ben-Gurion University of the Negev received the lowest satisfaction scores among the universities, 3.42 and 3.41 respectively.
The findings also indicated a slight decline in overall student rating of the quality of teaching by lecturers, which stood at 3.48, a 0.08 decrease from 2013. Despite this decline, a vast majority of students 66%, replied that they were “highly satisfied” with the teaching level at their institution.
The findings also indicated a slight decline in the attitude of lecturers towards their students, which stood at a rating of 3.79. While a majority of students, 67%, reported a “high” rate of satisfaction with lecturers, the figure reflected a .12 decrease from 2013.
“The quality of teaching continues to plummet each year.
If no significant change in the system occurs that will re-regulate how lecturers and teaching assistants are rewarded, the situation will only get worse,” said Uri Reshtik, chairman of NUIS.
“The institutions of higher education and the universities in particular are not concerned enough with the future generation of research. The lecturers do not invest enough time in their students and the quality of learning experience that should be provided in academia is compromised and becomes boring and irrelevant,” he added.