Uni Student Wellbeing Survey
As of the end of 2024, the USW Survey has been implemented at 11 universities across six states and territories. This surpasses our initial target of eight universities in Year 1 of this three-year project. Both metropolitan and regional universities participated, with two conducting pilot surveys in late 2023 and another nine administering the final version of the Survey in 2024.
Overall, data have been collected from 7,886 undergraduate students and analysed with the assistance of research fellows at the Melbourne Institute. We have distributed individual reports to all participating universities and are currently preparing a comprehensive 2023/2024 annual report which will provide a summary of our findings from the Year 1 surveys.
In 2025, we plan to administer the Survey at another 11 universities. If your institution is interested in participating in the Survey, please contact the project manager Dr Tracii Ryan (tracii.ryan@unimelb.edu.au).
Students’ Sense of Belonging at University Study
This qualitative study exploring how and when undergraduate students form a sense of belonging at university has successfully completed its data collection phase. Between 2023-2024, our research team conducted individual interviews and focus groups with 200 students from 23 different Australian universities, located in six states and territories. Of these participants, 26% were the first in family to attend university and 18% were international students. Thematic analysis of this rich dataset has commenced and will continue in 2025.
Value of Higher Education Study
After a global search in 2023, Mariyam Nazviya from The Maldives was selected as a PhD candidate for this project. Mariyam commenced her candidature in January 2024 and has currently completed a scoping literature review of the literature on this topic. In 2025, she will collect data from in-depth interviews with between 40-60 diverse undergraduate students from at least three Australian universities.