When high school students and their families investigate which college is the best fit, they will inevitably be inundated with various facts and figures. Brochures and websites might highlight the school’s dining halls or student-led clubs and activities. But one of the most important statistics for students and families to consider when choosing a college is the career outcomes of its graduates.
This is, perhaps, the greatest selling point for any institution of higher education. Students consistently say that finding a good-paying job is among the top reasons why they go to college.
As scholars of career education, we believe it’s important for students and families to know there may be more under the surface to those career outcome statistics.
Why career placement matters
What does “career success” even mean, and why should students or their parents care? How do colleges measure it? And most importantly, how are those statistics verified?
These are all questions that should be on the minds of prospective students and their families. It’s worth asking these questions during college visits.
Put simply, career success or career outcomes refer to a graduate’s employment or academic enrollment status within a period of time after graduating college. By industry standards, a graduate may achieve career success if they are employed or continuing their education within six months of graduation. So when we at Champlain College tout a 90% career success rate for our class of 2023, what we mean is that 90% of the class was either employed or continuing their education within six months of graduation.
Sounds good, right? But compared with what?
