RECENTLY released figures from the European Student Barometer survey show that Limerick Institute of Technology (LIT) students rate their college more highly than students of other Irish and European colleges are ranking their own institutes.
The European Student Barometer is an online student survey which is conducted independently by the research institute, Trendence. It is the largest survey on career, education and employer topics in Europe. This year, over 195,000 students from more than 775 European Institutes in 22 European countries answered the survey.
In the “evaluation of university/ college performance” section of the report, LIT students ranked the college above the national and European ratings for practical course content, lecturer/ tutor availability and helpfulness, course content and structure, teaching quality, accommodation availability, assistance with career planning, and inexpensive location.
In terms of practical course content, 86.4 per cent of LIT students believe that the college’s course content is good or better, as opposed to the national average of 73 per cent who believe their college or university has practical course content.
Active learning through a fusion of theory and practice is a term which LIT has coined to describe the hands-on and practical nature of its programmes, and with statistics like this, the college says their programmes, which provide practical learning for students, continue to thrive.
The report also queried students on their top reasons for choosing an institute or college. 62.2 per cent of LIT students said course content and structure are the most important factors when choosing a college or university course.
Dr. Maria Hinfelaar, president of LIT, said these sort of statistics confirm LIT’s choice to introduce exciting new programmes.
“We have a great number of new programmes that have been validated and are ready for their first intake of students in September. These programmes have been developed with industry and professional bodies to fill gaps in terms of education provision in Ireland. They will have excellent career prospects for these students when they have graduated. Programmes include: Business Studies with Sports Management, Building Surveying, Good Manufacturing Practice & Technology, Investigation Techniques and IT Security, and more.”
These programmes will be available via direct entry application to LIT in August.
