The results of the 2018 student satisfaction survey which was conducted during last November have been announced.
943 undergraduate students participated in the survey by a one-on-one five-minute online questionnaire.
The results for the last few years showed that the overall satisfaction level tends to increase every year. The comprehensive satisfaction index for 2018 was 69.96 points, a figure which is 4.47 points higher than that of 2017.
There were 14 categories to assess student satisfaction: faculty, curriculum, tuition fee, scholarship, lecture rooms, library, welfare facilities, autonomous activity, informatization, career support, student service, administration service, public image, and sense of belonging.
One of the most significant differences compared to 2017 was about public reputation and image, where the overall satisfaction rate was 60.02 points, which is 3.46 points higher than that of 2017. The figures indicate that students gave higher points on “cultivation of excellent human resources” and “potential for development.” However, points on “variation of advertisement” and “public image” were relatively lower than the other categories.
Although the overall satisfaction rate has increased, students still thought there was room for improvement. The analyzed data based on student suggestions for school services show that there has been 152 cases in which students requested the school to enhance its public image-making, it being the most highly requested agenda out of all the other suggestions.
“Social media like Facebook or news articles still impose negative stereotypes on Ewha students,” said Won Byun-ji from Department of Science Education. “I think the school needs to put more effort on improving its public image.”
In order to make progress, 34.9 percent of the students suggested the school should give weight to the university entrance affairs and 36.4 percent replied that the school ought to utilize the press more to promote its excellence.
2018 Student Satisfaction Survey results
On the other hand, student satisfaction on tuition fee gained 38.83 points, which showed only a subtle increase in comparison to 2017. For the past five consecutive years, the satisfaction for tuition fee ranked the lowest and the top three lowest assessment results imply that students regard the tuition fee to be too expensive and the school should invest more in its development with the tuition.
According to “‘Higher Education in Korea”’, a website run by the Ministry of Education, Ewha ranked 8th place for the most expensive average tuition fee, as it required 858 million won, while the average tuition fee of universities in South Korea in 2018 was 667 million won.
Despite the dissatisfaction, there were some students who approved of the tuition fee.
“Tuition fee being the top problem quite surprises me,” said Park Se-won from division of mechanical and biomedical engineering. “From what I know, the high average tuition is a result of our school being a comprehensive university where we have various colleges such as College of Medicine and College of Natural Science. These are majors that require higher tuition compared to others and by including such colleges to the average. The tuition fee seems expensive compared to other schools without such majors.”
Although the overall satisfaction rate has increased compared to last year, some issues are yet to be solved. As the purpose of the survey was to acknowledge needs of students, students are excepting the school to focus on making progress on the stagnations.