According to the winners of the 2023 World Student Satisfaction Awards, overall student satisfaction is the highest in Hungary. Semmelweis University was the winner in the “Quality of Student Life” category, thus gaining another recognition for Hungary.
The award was presented by Diego Vanara, CEO and Co-Founder of Unibuddy, and received by Dr. Alan Albar, Vice-Rector responsible for International Training.
The Quality of Student Life category includes many aspects that contribute to the overall student experience, from accessibility, affordability and cultural life of the host city to the availability of student accommodation and dining options on and off campus. This category also measures comments about a supportive community, potential to expand your network, and friends from around the world. The extracurricular sports, social, and cultural activities available on campus also influence how students judge their quality of life.
We believe that progress in education depends not only on the excellence of teachers, but also on the well-being of students. Semmelweis University is making more and more efforts to ensure a safe and friendly atmosphere inside and outside the walls of the institution. Student unions are important supporters and maintainers of university community life, which is also a measure of their success.”
– noted Dr. Alain Albar, Vice-Rector responsible for international training.
According to the survey conducted in connection with the 2023 Global Student Satisfaction Award, Hungary is the country with the highest overall student satisfaction internationally with 4.39 points, followed by Germany, Portugal, the United States, Spain, Turkey, Italy, Poland and Italy. The United Kingdom and Australia are in the top ten.
The Global Student Satisfaction Award 2023 is organized by Studyportals in collaboration with Unibuddy and the British Council IELTS, and their media partners are Times Higher Education and PIE News. Their survey is based on 126,000 assessments of more than 200 national and international students and graduates, based on which 3,661 higher education institutions in 126 countries were reviewed. The awards are presented every two years and have received more than 400,000 entries since the initiative was launched more than 10 years ago.
“The Global Student Satisfaction Awards are the only global program that recognizes the best universities from a student perspective. It is great to see how well Hungary is doing in this area, based on increased student satisfaction – it is A great compliment to the higher education sector,” he said, adding that since the US offers one in five English language courses, starting outside the Big Four of the UK, Canada and Australia, competition is increasing among students in many destination countries.
On the international scene, since the last Global Student Satisfaction Awards, Portugal has seen the largest increase in student satisfaction. The University of Navarre in Spain has won this recognition. Other winners in other categories came from Austria (Student Diversity – Klagenfurt University), the United States (Online Learning Experience – University of the People and Student-Teacher Collaboration – Denison University), Sweden (Admissions Process – Western University), and Ireland (Career Development – University Dublin City).
The survey also revealed that student satisfaction with university education has risen around the world after the pandemic. The reason for the positive change was the return of students to universities after the pandemic, and institutions improving online learning opportunities.
However, among the study’s “Big Four” countries, only the United States was considered better than the global average. The UK, Australia and Canada were rated below the global average by students.
Student and alumni ratings from the 2023 Global Student Satisfaction Awards survey show that the student experience has improved in every category measured since the last survey in 2021. Overall student satisfaction rose to 4.21 out of 5 (from 4.06 in 2021). Although still the lowest-rated category, “online learning experience” had the largest increase – 7.2 percent – followed by “quality of student life” (up 6.4 percent).
Study Gates, Judit Szabados-Dutch
Photo: Balint Barta, Attila Kovacs – Semmelweis University
