http://ozarkspub.vo.llnwd.net/o37/KSMU/audio/mp3/drury-survey-reviles-96-graduates-have-job-or-are-furthering-their-education_66604.mp3
Employment immediately following college graduation is not a sure thing. But a study by Drury University reveals 96% of its 2012 graduates who responded to a survey are either employed or furthering their education. KSMU’s Shannon Bowers takes a closer look.
Of the 242 graduates who took this university survey, 71% are currently employed and another 22% are in graduate school. The national average for youth employment ages 18-24 is only 50.7%, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
When you combine that with average lifetime earnings for bachelor’s degree holders versus non-graduates, college is worth it, says Jill Wiggins, Drury’s director of Career Planning and Development.
“This just shows that Drury University is committed to professional development,” said Wiggins.
The response rate of the survey was 75%, typical for Drury University but not for most. Missouri State University’s Career Center director, Jack Hunter, said that their graduates are falling in line with the national average. But for certain departments, their survey response rate is very low and therefore not as accurate.
“Since the economy has re-trenched things have been a little bit tougher and now we can say at graduation about 32% nationally and at Missouri State will have accepted positions. Another 20% still will go onto graduate school. And we can tell you that 180 days out, we still have the 20% going to graduate school and the other 70% of those students have positions,” said Hunter.
“We do invest in a lot of time into trying to track down these graduates. So we work with faculty to find out where graduates are. We make phones calls. Sometimes we end up talking to parents. Sometimes we end up talking to students directly. We try to find them on Facebook. We try to find them on LinkedIn. we really do invest a lot of time in tracking them down,” said Wiggins
While these students may be employed, the numbers do not reflect if the job is in their field of study or full-time. The Bureau of Labor Statistics says about 1.5 million, or 53.6 percent, of bachelor's degree-holders under the age of 25 were jobless or underemployed in 2012.
For KSMU News, I’m Shannon Bowers.