International students say Georgian College tops their list for providing them with an outstanding student experience. The results from the International Student Barometer (ISB) survey – the world’s largest survey on international student satisfaction – tell the story. Georgian received the highest ranking of participating students from 16 countries, making international students at the college the most satisfied with their experience not just in Ontario, but worldwide.“This is incredible news for Georgian College and a great compliment to faculty and staff across our seven campuses who work hard to create a positive learning environment not just for international students but for all Georgian students,” says Dr. John Donald, Vice President of Community and Business Development at Georgian.
Administered online by the International Graduate Insight Group, the survey included more than 209,000 students from over 200 institutions. Georgian international students reported an overall average satisfaction rate of 90.3 per cent in areas such as learning, academics, living, arrival and support services.
Ridhima Joshi, an international student from India taking Georgian’s post-graduate certificate in International Business Management, is not surprised. She says the first day she came to Georgian and met with representatives from the International Centre, she knew she’d made the right decision.
“From day one I liked the atmosphere of the college,” she notes. “So far, my experience at Georgian has been awesome. The college support services have been helpful, especially Career and Counselling Services and the Library Commons. Studying at Georgian has boosted my level of confidence and I feel proud to be part of the institution.”
The college received a 93.9 per cent overall average satisfaction rate in the area of student support, particularly standing out in the areas of accommodation (95.5 per cent), career services (94.1 per cent) and counselling services (93.2 per cent).
Results from the survey also indicate that Georgian is excelling in the area of academics. The college received high marks in such areas as expert lecturers (98 per cent), topic selection (96.1 per cent), program content (94.4 per cent) quality lectures (92.5 per cent) and learning support (92 per cent).
“Georgian College’s goal, set out in its strategic plan Vision 2015, is to be the most personally connected learning organization in Canada. Results from the survey illustrate that we’re not only meeting that goal, but we’re exceeding it in key areas,” notes Ben Yang, Executive Director of International Education and Training.
“They survey has also given us greater insight into our international student population and will help us to strengthen and improve the overall student experience at Georgian,” he says. “Findings will be used to inform our recruitment and retention strategies, and to assess how the student experience at Georgian compares to other regional and international institutions.”
Georgian is home to 11,000 full-time students, including more than 500 international students from over 40 countries. Students can pursue academic upgrading, apprenticeship training, certificate, diploma, graduate certificate, college degree and university programs.
