POST-GRADUATION ACTIVITIES OF THE CLASS OF 2002

Student Life Assesment Update--Luther College, Decorah, Iowa

Introduction

This report highlights information on the graduate and professional school placement and employment patterns of the class of 2002. The purposes of the report are to summarize the post-college experiences of recent Luther graduates and to provide information to current students, prospective students, and alumni that may be useful in the career planning process

.The information upon which the report is based was gathered in May 2002 for students who had solidified their post-college plans prior to graduation. For students who were still unsure about their plans, the data were gathered through a 6-month-out survey in November 2002 and follow-up telephone calls to non-respondents in January 2003. The information was entered by the Alumni Office into the College's data base. The response rate was over 86%.

This report summarizes some of the more interesting findings from the survey. The table on the last page provides summary information on the status of students, broken down and reported by their major(s).

Post-Graduation Activities

The following chart graphically represents the post-college activities of the 2002 graduates in five categories: graduate/professional school (22.0%), employed (56.7%), internship/student teaching (5.9%), volunteer (6.1%), and part-time/unemployed and seeking (9.3%). Two of the categories deserve some explanation. Students who selected the "internship/student teaching" category include international students who work for up to one year as a part of their "optional practical training," a federally recognized training category that allows students to stay in the U.S. for up to one year at the conclusion of their college experience. It also includes students who return to Luther to complete their student teaching experience. The "part-time/unemployed and seeking" category reflects those students who either informed us that they were unemployed and seeking, or told us that they were working part-time. Some of the part-time workers are doing so by choice, but we have still grouped them into this category. What is unclear, especially with respect to this last category, is the way in which the 14% of the students who did not respond to the survey may affect this percentage. What is clear is that the number of part-time, unemployed and seeking increased from 5.9% in 2001 to 9.3% in 2002. This is most certainly related to a general slowdown in the U.S. economy.

Graduates Pursuing Further Education

Of those students who selected to attend graduate or professional school after Luther, the largest percentage (45%) reported that they were pursuing work toward a Master's degree. The 2002 graduates indicated pursuing a wide variety of other advanced degrees including Medical (15%), Professional Master's (8%), Doctorate (8%), Law (9%) and Other (15%). The "other" category includes degrees in areas such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, physician assistant, public health, etc. The following chart provides a breakdown of the types of degrees pursued by the 2002 graduates.

Thirty-four percent of the students pursuing graduate or professional school studies did so at an institution in Iowa. Not surprisingly, the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois were selected as locations for graduate study by a significant number of the 2002 graduates (37%). Twenty-five percent of the surveyed students selected a state outside of the four state region for advanced study; Indiana, Ohio and Texas drew the greatest number of students with 4, 3, and 3 graduates each. Finally, 4% of the graduates decided to study abroad.

Of those Luther graduates who attended graduate or professional school, nearly 43.1% attended school at one of five institutions in Iowa or neighboring states. The table below highlights the top five institutions attended by the 2002 graduates.

Top 5 Graduate School Destinations
University of Iowa	20 Students
University of Minnesota - Twin Cities	13 Students
University of Wisconsin - Madison	4 Students
Iowa State University	5 Students
University of Northern Iowa	5 Students

 

Employment Activities

The range of career paths selected by Luther graduates is quite impressive. The largest single career path for the 2002 graduates was graduate/professional school, as highlighted earlier. Education (20.9%), volunteer (6.5%), nursing (5.4%), retail/sales/marketing (4.3%), banking/finance/insurance (4.1%), and business admin./mgt. (4.1%) round out the list of the top career paths. The following table summarizes the careers pursued by the 2002 graduates.

Summary of 2002 Graduates Career Paths
Accounting	2.4%
Advertising/Public Relations/Media	0.4%
Arts-Performing/Creative	1.7%
Banking/Finance/Insurance	4.1%
Business Administration/Management	4.1%
Computing/Information Systems	3.9%
Consulting	0.9%
Day Care/Child Care	2.0%
Education	20.9%
Government/Politics	0.9%
Graduate/Professional School	23.7%
Human Resources	0.9%
Medical/Research/Laboratory	2.0%
Nursing	5.4%
Retail/Sales/Marketing	4.3%
Social Services	3.9%
Sports/Recreation/Hospitality	3.3%
Volunteer (Peace Corps, etc.)	6.5%
Other	16.1%

 

For those students who decided to pursue employment (as opposed to graduate/professional school) the location of employment is interesting. Minnesota was selected by 40% of the 2002 graduates as their place for employment. The remaining three states in the four state area (Iowa, Wisconsin, and Illinois) were selected for employment by an additional 40% of respondents. Seventeen percent of students found employment in the U.S. outside of the four state area, while an additional 3% pursued employment overseas.

As would be expected, students pursued their work across a wide variety of regional, national, and international organizations. The breadth of these organizations is quite impressive. The following table highlights the names of a few of the employing organizations, arranged by broad industry groupings, which attracted Luther students. The list is not exhaustive, but does provide an overview as to the breadth and diversity of the hiring organizations.

Selected Employers of 2002 Graduates
Business:
Target	6 Students
American Express	3 Students
Accenture	2 Students
Hormel	2 Students
Rockwell Collins	2 Students
Wells Fargo	2 Students
Health/Sciences:
Mayo Clinic	11 Students
Aurora Medical	3 Students
Fairview	2 Students
Gunderson Lutheran	1 Students
Social Sciences/Education/Communication:
Cherry Creek School District (CO)	2 Students
Opportunity Homes	1 Student
Lutheran Child and Family Services	1 Student
Technology:
Epic Systems	3 Students
IBM Corporation	3 Students
Fastenal Co.	1 Student

 

Volunteer Service

As mentioned earlier, 6.5% of the recent graduates pursued volunteer service as their career path after leaving Luther. The following table lists the top four of those national volunteer organizations enrolling more than one 2002 Luther graduate.

Volunteer Organizations
AmeriCorps	13 Students
Lutheran Volunteer Corps	5 Students
Holden Village	2 Students
Peace Corps	2 Students

 

Salary Information

Students were asked to indicate their annual starting salary in increments of $2,500. The range began at less than $10,000 (represented as <$10,000 in the table on the last page) to over $50,000 (represented as $50,000+). From this data, average salaries grouped by Luther majors were calculated. These averages by major were used to calculate an overall salary average. Please note that far fewer students reported on salary data than other aspects of the survey; approximately 36% of students provided salary information. This was expected given the sensitive nature of inquiries around salary issues. The table on the last page provides information on the number of respondents, by major, reporting on salary information. Caution should be exercised in interpreting the data, especially where the response rate for certain majors is particularly low.

The following two tables highlight the average starting salaries by area of study and selected occupations, respectively. Salaries in the survey varied greatly by major, geographic location, and industry or occupation. Students studying computer science (as a field of study) commanded the highest starting salaries ($44,375). The lowest salaries were in anthropology ($18,750) and interdisciplinary/individualized ($18,750). Again, however, because of the low response rate on salary data, caution should be exercised when using this information in the career decision-making process.

The average starting salaries, broken down by selected occupations, also varied considerably. The highest salaries were in the computer/information systems ($42, 916), nursing ($39, 431), accounting ($38, 964), and retail/sales/marketing ($36, 500) fields, while the lowest salaries were in the social services ($21,805) and medical/research/lab ($24,821) occupations.

Graduate Migration To/From Iowa

An important, recent topic of conversation in Iowa has centered around the migration of college educated individuals (both for employment and advanced study) into and out of Iowa. Specifically, the concern is that the state is losing its best and brightest graduates to other states. The table below depicts the employment and graduate study migration patterns for 2002 Luther graduates who claim Iowa as their home state (Iowa Students) and those who do not (Out-State Students). For example, 13.4% of Iowa students attended graduate school in Iowa, while 29.9% remained in Iowa for employment. Contrast this with the 3.9% of Out-State students who attended graduate school in Iowa and the 5.2% of Out-State students who took jobs in Iowa.

Student Internships

A large number of Luther students are engaging in internships while at Luther (59.9%). In general, these internships occur during the junior and senior years and are taken as a part of a student's course of study (for credit), in addition to academic study (non-credit), or both.

This year, we surveyed students about participation in, and the nature of, internship experiences. Of those students for whom we received survey data, we received a response rate of 78% (390 students) to questions about internship experiences. The chart below summarizes their responses.

Post-Graduation Status According to Major

The table on the next page provides a summary of much of the data on which this report is based. The table is organized according to majors. Students who majored in more than one area are represented in the table in each of the majors they obtained. Therefore, the distribution of majors listed in the table (726) does not correspond to the number of 2002 graduates (573).

A Final Word About Careers

It's sometimes very easy and tempting to examine 'numbers' and use these numbers as one of the sole pieces of information in the career process. If only it was that simple! The selection of a career, like the selection of a major, is a difficult process. Many factors need to be considered in the selection process, some of which end up being very difficult to quantify. Ultimately, the selection of a career path is really about the identification of oneself. What do I want to do? What sort of commitments do I want to make? How do I want to spend my work life? How do I want to spend my work life? What do I feel called to do? The discovery of one's sense of vocation is a fascinating process that data alone will not capture or describe, but which will evolve in our graduates' lives over time. The process involves listening to one's heart along with one's head. It also involves the feeling of being called to work and serve in sometimes unpredictable ways. Data simply cannot capture this.