While post-graduation plans include everything from attending graduate school to volunteering, the overall majority of University students immediately enter or have plans to enter the workforce.
Post-graduation data for the overall class of 2016 is not yet available on the University Career Center’s website, but both the Commerce and Nursing Schools were able to provide up-to-date data and unchanging data for their classes of 2016.
According to data from the University Career Center, 46.5 percent of surveyed students from the class of 2015 — the most recent year in which data is available for the entire class — had already accepted employment offers prior to graduating. This is only a slight increase from 46.2 percent of students in the class of 2014 who were already employed before graduation.
Jennifer Harvey, associate director of the Business Career Community at the Career Center, said in an email statement that 54.7 percent of 2016 graduates from the College looking for employment after graduation have secured a job.
However, Harvey said because the center is in the midst of its data collection period, this information could be subject to change.
Theresa Carroll, senior assistant dean for Academic and Student Services at the School of Nursing, said all nursing graduates go straight into employment, but she would estimate around 75 to 80 percent of these graduates go to graduate school within two years of leaving the University in order to specialise within their field.
“The undergraduate program is really about preparing a general nurse that can go out there and do anything,” Carroll said. “So, they return to graduate school because they want to become certified in some kind of specialty. That is how you become a family nurse practitioner or a midwife.”
Although some students in the class of 2015 were not already employed prior to graduation, these students had plans to seek employment or graduate school, comprising 16.7 percent of the overall class of 2015.
The majority of the University’s overall class of 2015 entered the business field, with 33.1 percent of responders accepting employment in that field. Other top fields for employment included engineering, science and technology, government and law and creative arts, media and design.
However, Harvey indicated the industries in which students find employment do not always reflect their major.
“Our office is a big proponent of the philosophy that a student’s major doesn’t equal their career,” Harvey said. “Many fields that students pursue after U.Va. are open to a wide variety of majors.”
While students in the College also found employment in the engineering, science and technology industry, these graduates differed in that the top second and third fields for employment were financial services and consulting, respectively.
Tom Fitch, associate dean of Career Services and Employer Relations for the Commerce School, said while the business field is competitive, students from the University are marketable to employers.
Harvey echoed these sentiments, saying “students can make themselves competitive by performing their best academically, getting involved on Grounds, and pursuing summer experiences like study abroad, research or internships.”
Mary Riner, director for Employer Relations at Commerce Career Services, said a strong summer internship that often takes place between a student’s third and fourth year can be key to entering the field.
“Ninety-five percent of the class of 2016 who received a Bachelor of Science in Commerce indicated they had a summer internship,” Riner said. “Forty percent received full-time offers, and 36 percent accepted full-time employment with their intern employer which is pretty phenomenal. So it really does share the significance of that strong summer internship.”
In the United States, the top five cities employing the most University graduates were Charlottesville, Washington, D.C., New York City, Richmond and Madison, Wis. Internationally, University students were employed in countries such as South Korea, the United Kingdom, Japan and China.
The University and the University Health System employed the most graduates from 2015. Other companies who employed graduates include Booz Allen Hamilton Inc., Epic Systems, Oracle Corporation and Teach for America.
Carroll said 25 Nursing graduates accepted employment with the University hospital. Only 18 of the class of 2016’s 89 Nursing graduates accepted employment outside of Virginia and Washington D.C.
The average starting salary for University graduates in 2015 was $47,742. This was an increase of three percent from $46,053 in 2014.
Harvey said College graduates have an average starting salary was $49,230, according to the center’s current response rate.
For Nursing graduates, the average starting salary depends upon where they practice, Carroll said.
“The hospital here is right around $50,000, but if you go to New York City, they’re going to pay a new graduate upwards of $80,000-$90,000,” Carroll said. “It’s just a very different economic picture.”
Fitch said the competitive credentials possessed by University students means that, compared to national averages, Commerce graduates tend to receive a higher average entry salary.
“Specifically about the class of 2016 who received a Bachelor of Science in Commerce, we collect information from them through the month of August every year, and the average salary is $71,944,” Riner said. “There are also accompanying bonuses — for example, the average relocation bonus is $5,190, and the average signing bonus is $9,004.”
Representatives from the Architecture School, the Engineering School, the Curry School and the Batten School did not return requests for comments.
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