Survey Shows UW-River Falls Alumni Pleased With Value of Education

Jan. 13, 2011—Recently released results from a study of 400 alumni of the University of Wisconsin-River Falls illustrates the high degree of satisfaction and positive outlook by the university’s graduates.

The survey, created by the American Council on Education and conducted by research firm The Winston Group, polled a total of 2.4 million college and university alumni nationwide.

“The high level of satisfaction expressed by UW-River Falls alumni is a wonderful vote of confidence in our university, and a tribute to our faculty and staff who have taught, mentored and supported students over the years,” says Chancellor Dean Van Galen.

When asked, “Do you believe that America’s colleges and universities are prepared to meet the challenges of the future?” 73 percent of UWRF alumni responded positively, compared with only 61 percent nationally. The survey also asked if alumni would choose again to attend the same school. Some 85 percent of UWRF alumni responded that they would, higher than the 79 percent of alumni nationwide who answered the same.

Most noticeably, the exceptional value of a UW-River Falls education came to light in the survey’s results. Alumni were asked if they felt their university charged a fair price for their education, and fully 96 percent of UWRF’s alumni responded with “yes.” Only 76 percent of alumni on a national scale responded affirmatively as well.

The study went on to note that while 89 percent of college and university alumni in the United States believed their college education was worth it, 96 percent of UWRF alumni believed it was.

“I am not surprised whatsoever from the results that I have seen on this study,” says Dan McGinty, executive director of University Advancement and president of the UW-River Falls Foundation. “Our alumni are extremely satisfied with their education from UW-River Falls. We have faculty and staff who are committed to teaching excellence, faculty and staff do a great job of enhancing the classroom learning experience and really care about the well-being of our students, and we offer an affordable and quality education.”