Executive Summary — 2018

The Boston College Post-Graduation Plans Survey tracks recent graduates’ future plans  six months post-graduation, employment industries, the timing of offers and starting salary information, graduate school enrollment by program, degree, and institution, and the organizations through which recent graduates engage in fellowships and service work.

Serving as partners in this data collection effort, the Career Center and Institutional Research, Planning & Assessment have utilized a variety of resources to supplement information gathered via the traditional survey administration process, resulting in a set of information collected from graduating seniors that provides valuable data for faculty, administrators, and employers to better serve students in their career-planning activities. The survey administration process, and methods in which the data are reported, both conform to the guidelines put forth by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the leading resource for information on postgraduation plans, hiring forecasts, job market trends and employment-related best practices and benchmarks.

Survey Administration and Data Collection

  • The survey was administered online from April 2018 through December 2018 to all members of the undergraduate Class of 2018 and yielded a 48.7% response rate.
  • Data from the National Student Clearinghouse, internal Boston College sources, and public data werecompiled to supplement survey data, yielding an additional 26.5%.
  • Input was collected for 1,728 students (a 75% knowledge rate).

Highlights

  • As has been the trend for the past 10 years, more than 9 out of 10 members of the Class of 2018 (96%) indicated that they are employed, attending graduate school, engaging in service/volunteering, or participating in a fellowship.
  • The median salary reported by members of the Class of 2018 is $58,500 with the middle 50% of students reporting salaries between $45,000 and $67,375.
  • A broad range of industries is represented for those respondents who are employed, and includes areas such as financial services, healthcare, consulting and management, technology, communication and media, retail, law and public policy, education, accounting, entertainment, social services, and transportation. The top industries represented across BC are: Financial Services & Real Estate (23%); Healthcare, Life & Physical Sciences, Environment (15%); and Business Services, Consulting, Management (14%).
  • While a majority of 2018 graduates remain in the Northeast (77%), graduates do move to all regions of the United States (in 37 states), as well as 27 countries outside of the U.S.: Argentina, Austria, Bermuda, Bolivia, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Colombia, England, France, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Grenada, Guyana, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Lesotho, Malaysia, Panama, South Korea, Spain, St.
    Kitts and Nevis, Tanzania, and Ukraine.
  • More than 7 in 10 (72%) graduates used a Boston College career resource to secure their employment.
  • The top job search resources utilized by those who are employed include: networking beyond BC (44%); networking through BC (42%); EagleLink on-campus interviews (41%); and career fairs at BC (36%).
  • Being “interested in the field” was the most-often cited factor influencing post-graduation plans. Students’ experiences at BC, which included interning (86%), volunteering (82%), working on campus (70%), and studying abroad (65%), are often factors in determining plans after graduation.
  • About one-fifth (19%) of graduates indicated that they are pursuing a graduate degree as their primary activity after graduation. Of those attending graduate school, more than half (66%) are pursuing
    Master’s degrees and 10% are pursuing Doctorates.
  • Out of students pursuing a graduate degree, the top areas of study are: Law (17%), Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) (17%), Education (14%), Business, (13%), and Medicine (6%).
  • For those who are volunteering after their graduation from BC, nearly a third (29%) are serving with the Jesuit Volunteer Corps. Class of 2018 graduates are also volunteering with a host of other service organizations, both domestic and international.
  • Trends since 2014 demonstrate an increase in the number of students pursuing employment after graduation. That is, for the Class of 2014, 65% reported employment after graduation versus 71% for the Class of 2018.
Back To Top