The First Destination Survey, administered annually by the Office of Post-Graduate Planning and Experiential Education, collects information about the graduating undergraduate class and what they plan to do upon leaving Case Western Reserve University. The impressive results for the Class of 2022, now available online, report that our students graduated ready to make their mark in the workforce as well as in prestigious graduate programs.
The results of the 2022 First Destination Survey have many “firsts.” This is the first year that the survey achieved an historically-high knowledge rate of 89%. This is also the first time that a record high of 56% of graduates directly entered the workforce. And, though several graduates indicated disruptions to their immediate post-graduate plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic, only 3% of the Class of 2022 identified as “still seeking,” the lowest rate ever reported on the survey. This percentage was even lower for international student graduates (0%) and marginally higher for students identifying as underrepresented minorities (4%).
“These results reflect in hard data what the Case Western Reserve University community has witnessed in these students throughout their time here: that they are driven, smart, flexible, and exceptionally resilient,” said Drew Poppleton, director of Post-Graduate Planning and Experiential Education.
While making their post-graduate decisions, 88% of all 2022 graduates engaged with the Office of Post-Graduate Planning and Experiential Education through career advising appointments, workshops and events, and through experiential education opportunities led by the office. “We are thankful to our dedicated team as well as the hard work of staff and faculty that support our students in achieving their post-graduate goals,” said Krittika Grau, senior associate director of career education.
The results of the First Destination Survey are available in a series of PDFs online. For those who would like to explore the data in greater detail, an interactive Tableau dashboard containing the last seven years’ worth of data can be accessed on the Post-Graduate Planning and Experiential Education website.
Employment
For graduates who chose to pursue full-time employment, the industries with the most number of graduates were engineering (24%), information technology and technology (16%), research and science (13%), nursing (11%), healthcare/public health (8%), and consulting (6%).
Ohio (227) remained the most popular destination for graduates beginning their careers, followed in significant numbers by California (42), New York (39), Illinois (38), Pennsylvania (27), Wisconsin (26), Washington (24), Massachusetts (21) and Texas (19). The value of a CWRU education was recognized internationally as well, for students took positions in China, France, India, South Korea, Thailand and Vietnam. Some students also reported fully remote positions.
In these sought-after job markets, graduates found positions with top firms, several of which hired four or more members of the Class of 2022:
- Amazon
- Boeing
- Case Western Reserve University
- Cleveland Clinic
- Deloitte
- Epic
- EY
- General Electric
- General Motors
- Johns Hopkins Hospital
- JPMorgan Chase
- KeyBank
- Lubrizol
- MedStar Health
- Microsoft
- National Institutes of Health
- P&G
- Publicis Sapient
- Rockwell Automation
- Sherwin-Williams
- University Hospitals
Graduates reported a median starting salary range of $65,000-$69,999, an increase of $5,000 from the Class of 2021. And, 11% of graduates even reported salaries greater than $100,000. By college and school, median salaries were:
- Case School of Engineering: $70,000-$74,999, no change from last year
- College of Arts and Sciences: $40,000-$44,999, a $5,000 increase from last year
- Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing: $60,000-$64,999, a $5,000 increase from last year
- Weatherhead School of Management: $70,000-74,999, a $10,000 increase from last year
Advanced education
Case Western Reserve graduates pursuing advanced degrees (37%) were accepted to 121 unique institutions in the US and abroad including:
- Boston University
- Carnegie Mellon University
- Columbia University
- Cornell University
- Duke University
- Johns Hopkins University
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology
- New York University
- Northwestern University
- The Ohio State University
- State University of New York – System
- University of California – System
- University of Illinois – System
- University of Michigan
- University of North Carolina – System
- University of Pennsylvania
- University of Pittsburgh
- Vanderbilt University
- Washington University in St. Louis
- Yale University
134 students chose to continue their studies at Case Western Reserve for another degree.
For those graduates pursuing an advanced degree, master’s degree programs were the most popular (54%), followed by MD/DO (18%), PhD (14%), JD (6%) DDS/DMD (3%) and other programs (5%).
Experiential education
While access to experiential education opportunities remained limited for many students during the pandemic, especially the ability to shadow healthcare professionals, 98% of the graduating class reported participating in at least one form of experiential learning before they graduated.
Of graduates who responded to survey questions about experiential education, participation included:
- 83% conducted research or pursued a creative endeavor;
- 70% completed an internship, practicum or co-op;
- 49% engaged in community service; and
- 33% participated in shadowing experiences.
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Review the full results of the 2022 First Destination Survey.