How are the 2018 college grads faring in the job market?
According to a report released on November 7 from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE,) nearly 60 percent of Class of 2018 bachelor’s degree graduates nailed a full-time job within six months of graduation.
NACE’s First Destinations for the Class of 2018 shows that 58.7 percent of graduates were employed within six months of graduation – up from 57.8 percent of the Class of 2017 (See Figure 1.)
That increase may not seem especially significant until we take into account that it’s coupled with a 3.0 percent increase in median starting salary – which translates into a sizable overall improvement for Class of 2018 bachelor’s degree graduates.
Other highlights from the report include:
- Overall, 54.5 percent of those working full time had landed a position with a traditional employer, up from 53.3 percent in 2017.
- Approximately 19 percent of the class was engaged in an advanced degree program or pursuing a professional certificate.
- Just 14.1 percent of the class was still seeking either a job or more education. That is down from 15.4 percent in 2017.
- By region, graduates from schools in the Northeast and Midwest did best: Between 89 and 93 percent of graduates from schools in those regions had landed an employment, educational, or service position within six months of graduating. In contrast, those from schools in the South and the West appeared to have the most difficulty in finding a landing spot immediately after graduation. More than one-fifth of these graduates were still seeking a job or educational placement at the time of the survey.
Figure 1: First-destination outcomes, Classes of 2018 and 2017
| RESULTS | CLASS OF 2018 | CLASS OF 2017 |
| Percent Employed Overall | 63.5% | 63.7% |
| Percent employed full time | 58.7% | 57.8% |
| Percent employed part time | 4.8% | 5.9% |
| Percent Continuing Education | 19.2% | 17.5% |
| Percent Still Seeking Outcome | 14.1% | 15.4% |
| Percent seeking employment | 11.2% | 11.9% |
| Percent seeking education | 2.9% | 3.5% |
| Percent Not Seeking | 1.5% | 1.7% |
| Mean Starting Salary | $51,525 | $50,253 |
| Median Starting Salary | $49,725 | $48,273 |
Source: First Destinations for the Class of 2018, National Association of Colleges and Employers
The survey on which First Destinations for the Class of 2018 is based covered students graduating from colleges and universities from July 1, 2017 – June 30, 2018. The survey was conducted from July 1 – December 30, 2017; and data were reported to NACE through April 2018.
First Destinations for the Class of 2018, the fifth iteration of the annual first-destination survey conducted by NACE, examines how Class of 2018 graduates—from the associate through the doctoral level—fared initially in their professional life. The report provides a baseline for assessing where graduates at the undergraduate and graduate levels land within six months, on average, after receiving their degree.
In total, the graduating classes of these reporting institutions represent more than 693,000 graduates – 529,000 at the bachelor’s degree level, 131,000 at the master’s level, 20,000 earning a doctoral degree, and 13,000 at the associate level.
This translates to results for:
- 26.7 percent of all bachelor’s degree graduates,
- 15.8 percent of all master’s degree graduates,
- 10.8 percent of all doctoral degree graduates, and
- 1.4 percent of all associate degree graduates.
According to NACE, those figures represent the most comprehensive view of graduate outcomes currently available.
The full survey report for the Class of 2018, featuring data for associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral level degrees, is available on the NACE website.
(Source: NACE)
~ Written by: Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook and Twitter
