In the time of modern technologies if students want to share their opinion on the college they attend, they do not have to wait for a scholar, who will approach them with a pen and notebook ready to ask questions. The process is much easier, they just go to one of the college ranking web-sites and take a survey at any time. Also there are organizations that conduct these surveys once in a couple of years and then display the results on their web-resources.

For example, the Princeton Review officially conducts surveys of students at each school on their list at least once every three years or more often, if the colleges request so. Their survey has more than 80 questions in four main sections: “About Yourself,” “Your School’s Academics/Administration,” “Students” and “Life at Your School.” There are all sort of questions, from “How many out-of-class hours do you spend studying each day?” to “How do you rate your campus food?” Most questions offer an answer choice on a five-point scale, a range from “Excellent” to “Awful”. The five-point grid, also called a Likert scale, is the most commonly used measurement for this type of survey research, a consensus-based assessment. Statisticians consider it most accurate as it presents equal amounts of positive or negative positions.

Although, some questions on the student survey are open-ended and invite students to answer in their own words. All texts in quotes in the college profiles comes directly from a surveyed student, which are chosen not for their extreme nature, humor or unique perspective, but rather as they represent the sentiments expressed by the majority of survey respondents from the college. In some cases, they illustrate one side or another of a mixed bag of student opinion, in which case there will also appear a counterpoint opinion within the text. Those quotes illustrate the score given as a result of calculated answers.

It is not difficult to understand the measurements, but how to get the best reviews from your students?

First of all, make sure your college is accredited by a verified and reliable agency (like ITAA www.joinitaa.com). In order to get accredited college would have to meet certain standards, required by the agency. It will already help to achieve a proper quality level, and even though it does not guarantee the best reviews from your students and alumni, it will let them know that their degree is valuable, it will be accepted and their education appreciated by the future employer. It is very important to feel safe and protected.

Additionally, make sure you have approachable staff with good professional skills, that you programs and educational methods are up to date, your campus facilities are welcoming and comfortable to students, and besides the strong academic knowledge your students have fun, participating in different extracurricular activities during their best years in college.

To sum it up, it is an important question “How to get the best reviews from your students”, but more important is “How to make your students love your college”. Ask yourself the second one and think what you need to improve for students to love their “alma mater”.

To find more ideas about improving your college, feel free to contact ITAA now.