Opinionated graduates

Former students rate Ferris

In last year’s graduate survey, the vast majority of students who had just graduated had positive reactions to multiple questions about their time at Ferris. 

Every year when students fill out their application for graduation, that application is accompanied by a graduate exit survey. The purpose of the survey is for students to share their thoughts on their experience at Ferris. 

The survey results from last year’s graduating class leaned heavily towards positive responses. According to statistics listed in an email to Ferris staff sent by Ferris President David Eisler, of those who responded to the survey, 91 percent felt that Ferris was a good value for their money, 95 percent agreed that they were proud to have attended Ferris and 95 percent also rated their overall experience as satisfactory. Despite these numbers, only 71.9 percent of students gave a definitive yes when asked if they would recommend Ferris to a family member. 

“I would recommend Ferris but only if my family member wanted to study something Ferris particularly excels at. If they just wanted to get a business degree or science degree, I’d recommend they spend their money elsewhere,” Ferris business graduate Adam Widrig said. “Ferris is not very much cheaper at all than other top-tier universities in the state, including Michigan State and the University of Michigan. I think my money would have been more well spent going to one of those schools, only because the name would open more doors. It’s not as easy getting a job when your potential employer has never even heard of the college you attended.” 

Other students found the results represented their feelings accurately. 

“I believe that Ferris was a good value for my money. I have many friends who go to community college that basically had to restart when they transferred to a bigger college,” Ferris accounting graduate Steve Rogers said. “On a scale of one to 10 I would rate my total experience eight and a half. Some things could be improved but overall I had a good time and would do it again if I had the chance.” 

Statistics from a 2014 national research report published by Noel-Levitz show that only 56 percent of students at four-year public universities are satisfied with their college experience, which is 39 percent lower than Ferris students satisfaction rate.

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