A Summary of Graduate Student Exit Questionnaires

Perceived Program Quality
Post-Graduation Plans
For Further Information

The following is from:

Notes On Graduate Education
The Graduate School - University of Washington
Volume 1, Number 1
December, 1996

The Graduate School routinely collects exit surveys from students completing master's and doctoral degrees, and the results of these surveys are sent to department chairs annually. This document summarizes the basic reporting in a longitudinal fashion, outlining a number of institutional trends regarding perceived program quality and post-graduation plans.

Perceived Program Quality

Student ratings of quality factors are shown in Figure 1. Ratings of overall program quality have shown a modest increase in the last nine years. During that period students have consistently rated the extent to which programs have kept pace with recent trends and developments highest while rating the adequacy of space, facilities, and equipment lowest of all quality rating questions.

Doctoral students tend to express more favorable views of their programs than do master's students. The disparity is greatest with respect to perceived levels of satisfaction with faculty supervision and guidance, perhaps reflecting less frequent faculty contact for master's students.

The following graduate programs (with at least five respondents) fall in the top 10% of overall program quality for 1995-96:

Zoology	4.78
Education-Bothell	4.77
Atmospheric Sciences	4.67
Dentistry	4.67
Classics	4.67
Biostatistics	4.62
Computer Science & Engr.	4.61

Figure 1
Summary of Exit Questionnaire Ratings 1986-1995

Post-Graduation Plans

Respondents are asked to describe post-graduation plans. For the 1995-96 report year 33% of master's respondents indicated 'business/industrial employment'. Sixteen percent planned 'further graduate study'. Nearly 24% of doctoral respondents reported 'research university employment' and 23% indicated 'postdoctoral fellowship or research associateship'. Fourteen percent of doctoral respondents indicated 'business/industrial employment'.

Only 42% of 1995 master's respondents indicated that they had secured a position (see Figure 2). This is down from a high of 52% in 1988. Similarly, doctoral respondents show a decline from a high of 82% in 1989 to 73% in 1995.

In the following programs (with five or more 1995 respondents), 90% or more report having secured a position:

Biostatistics	100%
Epidemiology	100%
Speech Communication	100%
Computer Science & Engr.	92%
Fisheries	91%

Of those indicating that they had secured a position, 39% of doctoral respondents and 74% of master's respondents indicated that the position was located in Washington State.

When considering these numbers, it is important to realize that the reported rate of success in finding positions would probably be higher if follow-up studies were conducted. In addition, anecdotal evidence suggests that many students who initially secure positions outside Washington State return within a few years. The Graduate School is working with departments to gather information regarding doctoral placement over the past ten years, and will share these findings with the University community.

Figure 2
Percent of Respondents Who Had Secured A Position

For Further Information

Additional detail, including tables and other figures may be found on the World-Wide-Web at the following address:

http://www.grad.washington.edu/stats/exitsurv/exitsurv96-97/index.htm

Accountability Report Appendices Appendix M