Photo from stage at 2017 commencement showing graduates

Get a glimpse of where the Class of 2017 is now with the First Destination Survey report

As the undergraduate Class of 2018 makes final preparations for commencement, many are looking beyond May 20 to their next step, whether it’s the workforce, an advanced degree or another opportunity of interest to them.

If the Class of 2017 is any indication, this year’s graduates have plenty to which they can look forward. Recently, the Career Center released the First Destination Survey report, which gives a snapshot of where the Class of 2017 is now, less than one year after they walked across the stage.

Data was collected for 86 percent of the 1,200 members of the Class of 2017. Of those graduates, 53 percent are employed full time and 37 percent are seeking advanced degrees. This is just the second time in recent years that at least 50 percent of a class has gone straight to full-time employment, with the Class of 2015 reaching 50 percent.

“What’s remarkable to me is that this is the first stop,” said Robin Hedges, associate director of career education. “What they’ll go on to do in 10 years, 25 years, 50 years and accomplish over a lifetime remains yet to be seen.”

Additionally, 4 percent have pursued other opportunities, while 5 percent were available for employment.

Employment opportunities

Of the 53 percent of graduates who are employed full time, 81 percent said a degree is required for their job and that their position is related to their area of study.

The top career fields represented by the Class of 2017 were engineering, nursing, information technology, research and financial services.

Though 122 graduates opted to stay in the Cleveland area, the Class of 2017 dispersed widely across not only the country, but also around the world. San Francisco (33) and New York City (29) rounded out the top three cities.

Fifteen graduates are employed outside the United States, having found employment in:

  • China (4)
  • Japan (2)
  • Czech Republic
  • Germany
  • India
  • Peru
  • South Africa
  • United Arab Emirates

Companies employing several members of the class included:

  • Cleveland Clinic (21)
  • University Hospitals (20)
  • Case Western Reserve University (14)
  • MIM Software (10)
  • Hyland Software (9)
  • Accenture (8)
  • Microsoft (8)
  • Zimmer Biomet (7)
  • Deloitte Consulting (6)
  • Google (6)
  • KeyBank (6)
  • Progressive (6)
  • Teach for America (6)

The median salary for graduates rose from $55,000-$59,999 for the Class of 2016 to $60,000-$64,999 for the Class of 2017.

The rise in salary was bolstered by increases over the 2016 numbers for graduates from the Case School of Engineering and the College of Arts and Sciences. By college, median salaries were:

  • Case School of Engineering: $65,000-69,999 ($5,000 increase from last year)
  • College of Arts and Sciences: $35,000-39,999 ($5,000 increase from last year)
  • Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing: $50,000-54,999 (no change from last year)
  • Weatherhead School of Management: $55,000-59,999 (no change from last year)

Higher education

Forty-four percent of graduates who went on to graduate school chose to stay at Case Western Reserve, up from the 35 percent of advanced-degree seekers in the Class of 2016 who remained at CWRU.

But the Class of 2017 has gone on to several other prestigious institutions, among them:

  • Columbia University
  • Duke University
  • Johns Hopkins University
  • Princeton University
  • Stanford University
  • Yale University

Thirteen percent of graduates chose to go to medical school, while 3 percent went on to law school and 5 percent went to dental school or to study other health professions.

Some members of the Class of 2017 also earned impressive honors, including the Churchill Scholarship, National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship and Woodrow Wilson Teaching Fellowship.

Experiential learning

While at Case Western Reserve, members of the Class of 2017 were involved in countless activities that helped prepare them for their future endeavors.

Experiential learning includes such activities as community service, internships, study abroad, research with faculty, nursing practicums/clinicals and more.

In all, 98 percent of the Class of 2017 participated in experiential learning opportunities, with 35 percent involved in two experiential activities.

In some cases, experiential learning led directly to job offers, with 224 receiving at least one job offer as a result of their activities. Of those individuals, 160 accepted an opportunity.

“Anecdotally speaking, we know that employers like to use those programs as a way to identify talent early,” Hedges said. “I think even if an [experiential learning] opportunity doesn’t turn into a full-time job offer, the skills and experience that are developed through those experiences are invaluable, and ultimately serve the student well on the other side.”

View the full report.