Survey Says: 69% of 2011 Guilford Grads Found Full-time Jobs
Sixty-nine percent of Guilford’s 2011 graduates are working full time, and another 19 percent are in graduate school, according to an annual alumni survey.
Guilford’s full-time placement rate is 14 percentage points higher than the 2011 national average of 55 percent reported by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
“These are real, measurable outcomes,” said Alan Mueller, director of the Career Development Center. The College’s strategic plan is focused on student outcomes and preparing graduates for employment and graduate school.
“Hopefully, this data will strengthen our internal confidence that a liberal arts education does result in employment,” said Vice President and Academic Dean Adrienne Israel.
Including 2011 graduates who are employed part time, Guilford’s one-year employment placement rate for survey respondents is 83 percent. Guilford’s 19 percent graduate school placement rate is in line with the national average, which has been 18-21 percent for the past several years, Alan said.
Thirty-two percent of students who completed their degrees in July 2010, December 2010 and May 2011 responded to the most recent survey, conducted in the spring of 2012. Alan said this is a representative sampling of 2011 graduates.
The survey lists 117 employers of the class of 2011, American Express, AT&T, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Duke Energy, Ingersoll-Rand, Lincoln Financial Group, Make-a-Wish Foundation, Pace Communications, SAS Institute, VF Corporation and various schools and school systems.
Guilford students are seeking master’s and doctoral degrees in at least 30 graduate schools at institutions such as American University, Old Dominion University, University of Tennessee-Knoxville, University of Oklahoma, Vanderbilt University and Wake Forest University.
In addition, the survey indicates that students using career development services and taking part in experiential learning opportunities including internships had a higher rate of employment and graduate school placement.
