A List
8/20/07

OVER 95 PERCENT OF SLU'S CLASS OF 2006 WORKING OR IN GRAD SCHOOL

CANTON - One year after graduation, 95.9 percent of St. Lawrence University's Class of 2006 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 2006, 62.4 percent responded to the survey. Of those, 74.8 percent are employed, representing a 4.5 percent increase from the previous year. Graduate school attendance is down somewhat, at just over 4 percent from the previous year to 21 percent.

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

Of those responding, 18.8 percent reported working in education, making it the top choice. Other fields in the top 10 were, in descending order: banking/finance/investments; sales/marketing; government/non-profit; science and technology; health/medicine; human and social services; advertising and public relations; legal and law-related; and sports/recreation or environmental (tied).

In graduate study, education; science and technology; and social sciences represented the top three fields of interest.

The survey also shows that many graduates - 43 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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