Within six months of graduation, 96 percent of Grove City College’s class of 2021 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 really proud of our 2021 graduates for finding such exciting post-graduate career opportunities. The quality and caliber of our students makes them desirable to employers and these outcomes really speak to that fact,” Director of Career Services Mandy Sposato ’00 said.
“My team works hard every year to support our students in all facets of their career preparation from conducting one-on-one coaching appointments and leading workshops to providing career resources and facilitating employer connections through our major fall Career Fair, on-campus/online interviewing program, and Handshake career platform. It’s gratifying to see the fruit of all of those efforts,” she said.
Within the career outcomes rate of 96 percent, approximately 81 percent of the class of 2021 are working full- or part-time jobs, pursuing fellowships, service roles or in the military and approximately 15 percent are pursuing post-graduate education, according to the survey.
The College’s first destination survey is based on an exceptionally high knowledge rate of recent alumni, which Sposato said provides confidence in the solidness and strength of the career outcomes rate. The percentage of 2021 graduates the College has knowledge of was 99 percent, compared to a national average of about 58 percent for all bachelor’s degree graduates nationally in 2020 according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
The College consistently reports a high career outcomes rate, along with above average numbers for graduation – an 80 percent four-year rate – and early career earnings. According to PayScale, Grove City College alums see an average early career salary of $59,700 and midcareer earnings averaging $113,500. 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’s Career Services Office is one of the best in the nation, according to The Princeton Review, which ranked the College eighth in the nation for internships based on students’ ratings of the accessibility of internship opportunities at the College.