Spotlight for Career Services Professionals
Spotlight for Recruiting Professionals
Overall, Class of 2016 bachelor’s degree graduates reported slightly lower levels of employment than their Class of 2015 counterparts, and a smaller percentage reported continuing their education, according to a new report from the NACE Center for Career Development and Talent Acquisition.
The negative trends, however, were not dramatic. First Destinations for the College Class of 2016 shows that approximately 81 percent of 2016 bachelor’s degree graduates were employed or furthering their education within six months of graduation. That’s down from 82 percent of 2015 bachelor’s degree graduates.
Head-to-head comparisons of specific outcomes between the two classes also show that 2016 graduates lagged some:
- 63.5 percent of 2016 bachelor’s degree graduates were employed, either full or part time (versus 64.6 percent);
- 53.4 percent were employed full time by a traditional employer (versus 54.1 percent);
- 17.5 percent were continuing their education (versus 17.7 percent)
- 16.1 percent were still seeking a job or to secure a place in graduate/professional school (versus 14.3 percent).
In addition, the overall average starting salary for Class of 2016 bachelor’s graduates ($49,525) was 1.4 percent lower than that posted for the Class of 2015 ($50,219).
Faring best in initial outcomes related to employment and salary were graduates in computer and information services; engineering; engineering technology; mathematics and statistics, business, management, marketing, and related support services; and the health professions. Overall, graduates in these disciplines exceeded the class averages for employment and salary—in some cases, dramatically.
First Destinations for the College Class of 2016 reports on outcomes for graduates at all levels—from associate through doctoral degree; reporting institutions represent more than 650,000 2016 graduates. Download the report and view outcomes data for bachelor’s and master’s degree graduates by region, Carnegie Classification, academic discipline, and other parameters at www.naceweb.org/job-market/graduate-outcomes/first-destination/class-of-2016/.