Why graduate success is a measurable indicator of university quality

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OPINION

By Kefa Atibuni

At the close of the recently concluded general elections in the country, some universities took to their social media platforms to congratulate former staff and alumni who had attained electoral success in their respective communities. Notably, both Muni University and Makerere University issued press releases highlighting alumni and former staff elected as Members of Parliament and local council leaders.

This public recognition opened what one might describe as a Pandora ’s Box. While some questioned the necessity and appropriateness of such celebrations, others applauded the institutions for acknowledging the achievements of their graduates. In one instance, I found myself drawn into the debate and felt compelled to reaffirm that there is nothing unusual or inappropriate about celebrating alumni success. Indeed, this practice is common among universities globally and is widely regarded as a legitimate expression of institutional pride and accountability.

That debate points to a broader and more fundamental issue: universities should be assessed not only by what they publish, but also by who they produce, and what those individuals go on to contribute to society.

For decades, global university rankings have relied heavily on publication-based metrics such as citation counts, journal impact factors, and research volume. Research is undeniably important and remains a core function of any serious university. However, when rankings privilege publications almost exclusively, they present an incomplete, and sometimes misleading, picture of a university’s true contribution to society. A more meaningful and socially responsive ranking framework would deliberately balance research output with alumni outcomes and real-world impact.

At their core, universities are institutions of human development. Their most enduring output is not academic papers, but people. Graduates carry their universities’ values, skills, ethics, and intellectual discipline into society long after individual publications lose relevance. Measuring alumni performance, therefore, aligns institutional assessment with the foundational mission of higher education: preparing individuals to contribute productively to national, regional, and global development.

Strong alumni outcomes are reliable indicators of effective teaching, relevant curricula, and robust student support systems. Graduates who excel in leadership, entrepreneurship, public service, research, innovation, and community transformation provide tangible evidence that their universities prepared them for real-world challenges. Publications may demonstrate academic productivity; alumni success demonstrates educational effectiveness and societal relevance.

It is instructive that universities themselves already recognise the importance of alumni outcomes through tracer studies. These studies are routinely conducted to track graduates’ employment status, career progression, relevance of training, and broader social contribution. Tracer studies exist precisely because institutions understand that graduate performance is a key measure of programme quality and institutional impact. It is therefore logical that global ranking systems should reflect what universities already value and systematically measure internally.

Furthermore, research output is often closely tied to funding availability, infrastructure, and access to elite journals, advantages that are disproportionately concentrated in resource-rich institutions, largely in the Global North. This reality skews rankings in favour of wealthier universities while undervaluing institutions in developing contexts that are producing high-impact graduates despite limited research budgets. Incorporating alumni outcomes into ranking methodologies would help level the field by focusing on results rather than resources.

Societal impact is also best assessed through graduates. Universities influence society primarily through the people they release into it. Alumni who become ethical leaders, job creators, policymakers, educators, innovators, and agents of community transformation represent the clearest expression of a university’s social return on investment. Any ranking system that overlooks this dimension risks rewarding academic isolation over meaningful societal engagement.

When rankings overemphasise publications, universities are incentivised to invest disproportionately in research metrics, sometimes at the expense of teaching quality, mentorship, and career development. Ranking systems that intentionally integrate alumni outcomes would encourage institutions to strengthen career services, industry linkages, experiential learning, and values-based education, alongside sustained research excellence.

It is also worth noting that publications can be produced relatively quickly and, in some cases, strategically to improve ranking positions. Alumni outcomes, by contrast, unfold over years and decades. They are far more difficult to manipulate and provide a more honest and sustainable measure of institutional quality and long-term impact.

For many countries, particularly in Africa, investment in higher education is driven by pressing national priorities such as unemployment reduction, improved governance, innovation, and social cohesion. Ranking universities partly on the basis of alumni contribution directly links higher education performance to these priorities, making rankings more meaningful to policymakers, employers, and the public.

This argument does not diminish the value of research. Rather, it calls for balance. Research excellence should remain a central pillar of university assessment, but it should not overshadow the institution’s primary societal function. Alumni outcomes, employment, leadership, innovation, service, and ethical conduct should stand alongside publications as core indicators of institutional success.

In the final analysis, a truly great university is not only one that generates knowledge, but one that consistently produces graduates capable of transforming society.

The writer is the Principal Communications Officer at Muni University.