Perth Voice Interactive

EDITH COWAN University has been ranked sixth in a new national breakdown of higher education’s top performers — the only WA uni to make the top 10. 

The ranking system, established by the Australian Financial Review, puts more emphasis on areas such as student satisfaction and equity which are often relegated to the bottom of other systems.

ECU vice-chancellor Steve Chapman attributes the success to a focus on the student experience and teaching quality.

“This is a fantastic result for ECU that recognises that being the biggest, the oldest or the wealthiest university doesn’t always equate to high achievement,” Prof Chapman said in a media release.

“For ECU it is, and always will be, the student experience, teaching quality and high levels of satisfaction that guide what we do.”

Equity

The AFR rankings were developed by professors Tim Brown from La Trobe University and former former University of Canberra vice-chancellor Stephen Parker and draw from verified public sources, eliminating the need for data collection by institutions. 

The ranking evaluates universities on five categories: student satisfaction, research performance, global reputation, career impact, and equity and access.

Prof Chapman said ECU had bumped up its research program in recent years, and was adaptable to meet evolving student expectations, exemplified by the construction of a new city campus in Perth, set to open in 2026 as part of the Perth City Deal.

UWA came equal 12th in the list, with research and reputation rankings that were double-digits above ECU, but a student satisfaction well below its little cousin. 

Of WA’s other universities, Notre Dame and Murdoch were equal 30th on the rankings, while Curtin trailed the field on 33rd. 

Curtin’s student satisfaction rating matched its overall score, some 31 points arrears of ECU, which had the second highest in the country.