University of the Sunshine Coast

The University of the Sunshine Coast (USC) is a public university located in Queensland, Australia. It offers a range of degree programs in the areas of business and information technology, communication and design, education, health, humanities and social sciences, and science and engineering.

In 2005 USC was one of only two Australian universities chosen for an international benchmarking project conducted by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development). In 2007 the Australian Universities Quality Agency (AUQA) audited USC as part of their assessment of all Australian universities.

The university is listed on the Commonwealth Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students. It has partnered with other Australian universities to form the New Generation Universities Coalition.

Achievements and Ratings:

- It is the only public university in Queensland to have gained 5 stars for teaching quality in the 2010 Good Universities Guide. It was also awarded top marks (five stars) for its staff qualifications, and for graduates’ satisfaction with the generic skills they gained while at university. In addition it received four stars for access by equity groups, Indigenous enrolments, gender balance, and for graduates’ satisfaction with their overall university experience.

- Received a citation for being an Employer of Choice for Women for the fifth year in a row. The University was one of only 12 organisations in Queensland to be awarded by the Federal Equal Opportunity For Women in the Workplace Agency (2009).

- It is one of 99 organisations nationally, and one of only 10 in Queensland, to earn an Employer of Choice for Women citation for 2008. These citations are awarded annually by the Federal Government’s Equal Opportunity for Women in the Workplace Agency (EOWA).

- USC’s Global Opportunities (GO) program won a major award at the Celebrating International Education and Training Industry Showcase in Brisbane for promoting internationalisation (2007).

- The 2006 Course Experience Questionnaire conducted by Graduate Careers Australia showed USC's journalism graduates (in 2005) gave the University a 100 % satisfaction rating for the overall quality of its journalism program and for high quality teaching.

- DEST 2004 and 2005 Staff Publications show the USC has the highest proportion of academic staff with doctoral or masters qualifications of any university in Queensland, and the 5th highest in the country. It has maintained a 62 % DEST full-time equivalent PhD rating in 2005 and 2006 and 88 % for postgraduate qualifications in 2006.

* Recommended Reading: Top Universities in Queensland

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