University intakes - Education must mean employability

Questions are inevitably asked about ranking systems.

If a college or university is dropping in the international rankings, should serious questions be asked?

For instance, Trinity College Dublin has dropped from around 50th place to 65th in the latest ranking of the QS Stars programme, which is a system that evaluates universities using a broad set of criteria, such as faculty-student radio, student performance on standardised examination, and quality of research output.

The rating allows educational institutions to spotlight their strengths and specialist areas via a system of awarded recognition. University College Dublin fell from 89th in 2009 to 114th in 2010 and 134th this year. University College Cork, on the other hand, has improved its ranking to 181st.

Some of those figures might seem disturbing.

But any college in the top 200 is actually in the top 2% of the 10,000 universities worldwide, so those figures would suggest that this small country is punching well above our weight.

Indeed, Ireland has more colleges in the top 5% than Austria, Denmark or Norway.

Some people argue that the ranking process tends to become exaggerated.

The drop in the rankings of most Irish colleagues has been attributed to a 6% cut in staff, while there has been a 12% increase in the number of students. It is important, however, that the ranking should never be allowed to become more important that the quality of education being provided.

The ranking is heavily weighted towards colleges with Nobel Prize winners and academics who publish in the more prestigious journals, but frequently such people are so wrapped up in their own professional interests that they do not make good teachers. The real emphasis should be on quality education, and a significant part of the analysis of any college or university should be based on the employability of its graduates.

UCC’s five-star rating overall is largely attributed to its top marks for research, infrastructure, internationalisation, innovation and life sciences, but it received just three stars for teaching and engagement.

This should highlight that there is no room for complacency.

The college has not been in a position to spend as much as it might like on marketing or advertising, either domestically or internationally, so it ranking has become all the more important.

There are around 3,000 foreign students at UCC, paying the university around €19 million annually.

The foreign students make up 13% of the college’s population, and there are plans to increase this to 20%.

Overseas students should be welcomed, not only for their financial contribution to the university and the community, but also for helping to provide the blend of cultures that is an important part of education.

Places for the extra overseas students must be provided without excluding Irish students.

Ultimately, the Irish taxpayer is paying for the preponderance of our system of education.

Everyone wins, however, if the extra fees from an increased number of foreign students make a university education available to more Irish students.