Follow Up Survey Executive Summary

Executive Summary for the Class of 2025

The Center for Career Excellence empowers students and young alumni to articulate the value of their St. Lawrence education to navigate success in a diverse world through meaningful experiences and connections.

The following report presents the results of the Follow-Up Survey for the Class of 2025 and provides insight into the employment and continuing education activities of graduates seven to ten months after graduation. This survey serves as an important tool for the Center for Career Excellence, helping us better understand where graduates go after St. Lawrence and identify the employers and graduate programs that merit continued cultivation and engagement based on student interest and outcomes. The report is shared with the St. Lawrence community to support advising and mentoring efforts, inform future planning and goal setting, and highlight the success of our newest alumni.

In total, 306 of the 513 graduates reported their career status, resulting in a 60% response rate. This represents a 14.1 percentage-point decrease from the Class of 2024, and most closely aligns with the 63.1% response rate achieved by the Class of 2023. Over the past several years, we have achieved a response rate between 65-75%. Response rates for alumni surveys continue to be a challenge across higher education, as graduates are increasingly difficult to reach after leaving campus due to changing communication preferences, geographic mobility, and email/survey fatigue. Extensive outreach efforts were taken to reach graduates through email, social media, LinkedIn, text messaging, and direct personal communication. The Center for Career Excellence also partnered with athletic coaches, faculty, and administrative staff to encourage participation among non-respondents. Data collection occurred between November 21, 2025, and February 28, 2026. Due to lower response rates, the Center also utilized supplemental data sources, including the Senior Survey and National Student Clearinghouse records, to better capture graduates' post-graduate activities, particularly those pursuing continued education.

The Center for Career Excellence is pleased to report that the Class of 2025 achieved an overall outcomes rate of 93.1%, nearly identical to the 93.9% achieved by the Class of 2024. Among respondents, 68.6% reported employment as their primary activity, 24.5% were pursuing continued education, and 6.9% were in transition while actively seeking employment or admission to graduate or professional programs. The Class of 2025 continues a four-year trend of fewer graduates immediately entering the workforce and more choosing to pursue graduate or professional education. While this reflects growing interest in continued education, it may also be influenced by expanded use of supplemental data collection methods that more effectively identify students enrolled in post-graduate programs. These results continue to demonstrate the strong post-graduate success of St. Lawrence students and the value of the academic, experiential, and professional preparation they receive throughout their Laurentian experience.

Networking continues to be the most effective pathway to employment, and the Class of 2025 experienced this reality firsthand. Among graduates who secured full-time employment, 24% reported that their personal and extended networks played a key role in helping them find opportunities. St. Lawrence’s nationally recognized alumni network also proved to be a significant advantage, with 18% of employed graduates crediting alumni connections for assisting in their job search. Additionally, 15% leveraged LinkedIn to build professional relationships and identify opportunities, while another 15% relied on experiences gained through internships and previous employment to demonstrate their skills and qualifications to employers. Together, these findings underscore the importance of relationship-building, networking, and career-connected experiences in supporting successful transitions from college to career.

The quality and relevance of employment outcomes remain strong. A greater percentage of employed graduates reported that their current position is directly related to their desired career path compared to previous years. Average starting salary for employed graduates was $54,561, essentially unchanged from the previous year and suggesting a pause in the salary growth observed in recent graduating classes..

Regarding career-connected experiences, Class of 2025 respondents completed a total of 218 internships across 125 unique students. Notably, at least nine respondents participated in four internships during their time at St. Lawrence, while 65 respondents completed at least one internship. These experiences continue to play a critical role in helping students clarify career interests, develop professional skills, and secure post-graduate opportunities.

Student engagement with the Center for Career Excellence reached a record high. 90.4% of respondents reported utilizing CCE services or attending a CCE-sponsored event at least once during their time at St. Lawrence. When asked which experiences most helped them identify career directions and opportunities, respondents most frequently cited faculty members and individual appointments with CCE staff, reinforcing the importance of personalized guidance and mentoring throughout the student experience..

Finance remains the leading career industry for members of the Class of 2025, followed by health services and healthcare, K–12 education, sports and recreation, and software development. No significant shifts were observed in the overall distribution of industries employing graduates. Consistent with these industry trends, the most common job functions reported by graduates include sales and account management, financial services, accounting and banking, education, coaching and teaching, administrative management and support, and healthcare services..

Among graduates pursuing continued education on either a full-time or part-time basis, the most popular fields of study include science and technology, allied health, education, and social sciences.

Respectfully,
Jillian McKernan-Walley
Director, Center for Career Excellence

Methodology Note: This study includes self-reported data collected through the First Destination Follow-Up Survey, the Center for Career Excellence Year-End Survey, the Senior Survey, and the Athletics Department Survey. Consistent with standards established by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), institutions may gather outcomes information from a variety of legitimate sources to establish an overall knowledge rate. In addition to student survey responses, acceptable sources include information provided by employers, parents, faculty and staff, fellow graduates, LinkedIn profiles, and other publicly available online resources. This approach helps ensure a more complete and accurate understanding of post-graduate outcomes

See the 5 year academic division and department Outcome Profile summaries.