A List
8/2/06

OVER 95 PERCENT OF '05 SLU GRADS EMPLOYED OR IN SCHOOL

CANTON - One year after graduation, 95.4 percent of St. Lawrence University's Class of 2005 who responded to a survey report either being employed or in graduate school, the highest total placement rate reported since 1997.

Annually, University alumni are surveyed in the year following graduation. For the Class of 2005, 65.1 percent responded to the survey. Of those, 70.3 percent are employed, representing a .8 percent increase from the previous year. Graduate school attendance is also up, .7 percent from the previous year to 25.1 percent.

For the fifth straight year, education is the top career field choice reported; it has been in the top five fields for the past seven years. It is also among the top choices for those in graduate school.

Of those responding, 14.4 percent reported working in education, making it the top choice. Other fields in the top 10 were, in descending order: banking/finance/investments; environmental; sales/marketing; science and technology; government/non-profit; hospitality/tourism; sports/recreation; arts and entertainment; and health/medicine.

In graduate study, education; medicine/health; and science and technology represented the top three fields of interest, with 18.2 percent of those responding choosing to study in one of the three.

The survey also shows that many graduates - over 47 percent - got their jobs through "networking," seeking a job through personal contacts, internships or St. Lawrence's alumni and parent network. A slightly lower percentage, just over 42 percent, obtained jobs through direct application.

Director of Career Services and Leadership Education Carol G. Bate noted that "The survey is an important component of career services and leadership education's efforts to understand the kinds of work and graduate programs recent alumni are interested in pursuing."

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More information: Career Services and Leadership Education at St. Lawrence