Within six months of graduation, 95 percent of Grove City College’s class of 2020 was employed, in graduate school or voluntarily serving others in uniform or the community, according to a first destination survey conducted by the College’s Office of Career Services.
“We are thrilled over this year’s career outcomes for our graduates given the significant economic challenges many of them had to navigate due to COVID,” Mandy Sposato, director of Career Services for the College, said.
Recognizing that securing post-graduate employment during a pandemic could be challenging, the Career Services staff stepped up. When most of the class graduated in May, Sposato said the team quickly pulled together various initiatives to provide increased assistance to those who were still looking for opportunities.
“We offered virtual appointments to graduates during the summer, developed remote job board listings, sent out regular communications with helpful resources and job leads, tracked and advertised “warm” job leads and developed a special website just for the 2020 grads with helpful resources including information on companies and industries still hiring during the pandemic,” she said. “Overall, in all of our messaging, it was important to us to communicate empathy and support to our graduates. We could not be prouder of the resilience they showed during such daunting times.”
Within the career outcomes rate of 95 percent, approximately 82 percent of the class of 2020 are working full- or part-time jobs, pursuing fellowships, service roles or in the military and approximately 13 percent are pursuing post-graduate education, according to the survey.
The College’s first destination survey is based on an unusually high knowledge rate of recent alumni, which Sposato said provides confidence in the solidness and strength of the career outcomes rate. The percentage of 2020 graduates the College has knowledge of was 97 percent, compared to a national average of about 65 percent.
The College consistently reports a high career outcomes rate, along with above average numbers for graduation – an 84 percent four-year rate – and early career earnings. According to PayScale, Grove City College alums see an average starting salary of $56,000. That is a great return on investment, considering the College’s tuition is the most affordable for a private college in Pennsylvania, according to U.S. News. The College also ranks eighth for best schools for internships and its Career Services Office is eighth best in the nation, according to The Princeton Review student survey.