The concept of the Student Survey relies on two sources. Firstly, the approach for establishing social indicators and long-term social monitoring initiated and developed during the seventies. Secondly, the research on higher education and socialisation for the qualification of graduates includes partially international comparisons.
The Student Survey is embedded in the efforts to provide "performance measurement" in higher education, whereby the objective of the performance assessment includes six areas of major importance:
- Efficiency
of study, e.g. organisation of courses, university dropouts, duration of study, motivation for study, and study concepts;
- Qualification
and study results, e.g., practical relevance, examinations, requirements, and acquisition of general knowledge and skills;
- Evaluation
and study quality, e.g. requirements in study faculty, assessment of teaching situation, contacts, advice and guidance during the course of study Requirements in major studies, assessment of the teaching situation, contacts made during the study period, advice and assistance received during the study period;
- Socialisation
and orientation, e.g. science orientation, professional values, political participation and responsibility;
- Selection
and social opportunities, e.g. access to higher education, young researchers, and opportunities for students
- Placement
of graduates, e.g. employment prospects, the transition to the labour market, and job flexibility.
The core of the Student Survey questions is constituted by assessments of the study conditions and teaching offered in the universities. Although, these components initiated the evaluation of the teaching situation and study quality already in an early phase, they were not defined according to the recently established "university ranking". Rather, they provided differentiated information on subjects (such as medicine, law, humanities, sciences and engineering) or special higher education institutions (such as advising).
In addition, the survey aims to identify problem areas within study programs and universities, e.g. overcrowding of some courses or programs, the low communication between teachers and students, the employment of students, and expected employment prospects. At the same time, the survey should allow for an analysis of the implications such as the students coping with their study work as well as a clarification of the influence of various factors.