Outcomes Executive Summary

Executive Summary for the Class of 2023

The Center for Career Excellence empowers students and young alumni to articulate the value of their St. Lawrence education to navigate success in a diverse world through meaningful experiences and connections.

The following report outlines the results of the Follow-Up Survey for the Class of 2023. This report is a summary of the employment and continuing education activities the members of the Class of 2023 were engaged in seven to ten months post-graduation. The survey is an important component of the Center for Career Excellence’s ongoing efforts to better understand our graduate outcomes, as well as the employers and graduate programs with whom we should continue to build relationships. The report is shared with the St. Lawrence community to assist with advising students and accomplishing work objectives.

To summarize, 328 of the 520 graduates reported their career status for a response rate of 63.1%, a moderate decrease of 11% compared to the Class of 2022. Respondents completed the survey online, and extensive outreach was conducted through email, social media, and personal messaging through email, LinkedIn, and text messaging. The Center for Career Excellence also collaborated with coaches, other administrative staff, and faculty to seek their assistance in contacting non-respondents to encourage survey completion. Data was collected between December 1, 2023 and March 8, 2024.

We are pleased to report that the St. Lawrence Class of 2023 achieved an overall outcomes rate of 95.7%, with 74.6% of respondents’ primary activity being employed, 21.1% continuing their education and 4.3% being in transition and either pursuing employment or continued education. The Class of 2023 saw a 4% decrease in employment (from 78%), countered by a slightly larger increase in the pursuit of continued education (up from 16.7%) compared to the Class of 2022.

Graduates of the Class of 2023 reported more internship opportunities than pandemic-era Laurentians, at 63.2%, which was a 5% increase over the Class of 2022, moving closer to pre-pandemic levels. In addition, 92.4% of respondents reported having at least one experiential work/learning opportunity (virtually unchanged from 2022), with 50% reporting a professional job (either on or off campus), 49.5% reporting a research experience, 34.9% participating in community-based learning, and the same number participating in off-campus study opportunities. This represents a rebound toward pre-pandemic levels in internship participation, community-based learning, and off-campus study

Internship participation remained an important factor in securing employment for the Class of 2023. Nearly 30% of those employed full-time said that an internship or previous employment experience was influential in securing their current position. LinkedIn (34%), St. Lawrence faculty and staff (30%), St. Lawrence’s highly-ranked alumni network (27.7%) and graduates’
personal extended network (25%) were also key factors in respondents’ success in finding employment.

Finance is the top career industry in which respondents are employed, with K-12 education second, health services and health care third, environmental services fourth, with sports and recreation fifth. The top job functions include education/teaching/coaching, sales/account management, administrative management/support, financial services/accounting/banking, and healthcare services.

The top-five continued education programs for new graduates enrolled either full-time or part-time in graduate or professional school include science and technology, education, social sciences, law, and other post-baccalaureate programs.

The following pages contain more detailed information on the top 10 career industries and job functions, sources of employment, salary information, a list of jobs and internships obtained by the class, and a breakdown of graduate and professional school programs members of the class are attending.

Respectfully,

Geoff Falen
Director of Experiential Learning & Employer Engagement

*This study includes only self-reported data collected through the follow-up first destination survey itself; NACE standards allow for schools to collect data from various legitimate sources, not only student survey responses but also employer-, parent-, or faculty-provided information, LinkedIn profiles, other online sources, and fellow graduates to arrive at an overall “knowledge rate.”

See the Full Report.

See the 5 year academic division and department Outcome Profile summaries.