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Mizzou Students Beat National Average in Job Placements

85 percent find employment related to their degrees; 68 percent employed in the state

June 6, 2007

Story Contact:  Christian Basi, 573-882-4430, BasiC@missouri.edu

COLUMBIA, Mo. — University of Missouri-Columbia students have a bright future finding jobs. According to the latest studies, MU graduates are ahead of the national job placement average, with 85 percent of graduating students finding jobs. In addition, 68 percent of MU's graduating students found jobs in the state of Missouri.

According to a recent national survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), 81.1 percent of graduating students received at least one offer of employment. NACE surveyed more than 12,000 students. Detailed results of the NACE survey will be released later this month.

“We're extremely pleased with the success of our students,” said Ann Korschgen, vice provost for enrollment management. “Part of our mission, as Missouri's land-grant, flagship institution, is to prepare our students for the workforce, preferably within our own state. As we can see by these numbers, we are succeeding in this.”

Other highlights from the Mizzou survey include:

  • Median starting salary was $36,600 for those students who were employed.
  • Of those employed, 90 percent indicated that they found employment related to their degrees.
  • 25 percent of undergraduates and 16 percent of graduate students chose to continue their education.

According to the NACE national survey, more than half of those students who did secure jobs found them with help from their institution's career center, either through a career center job fair, by posting their resume on the career center's Web site, or through other means.

“Finding a job that is a good fit for you and your future career plans begins much earlier than the last semester of your senior year in college,” said Craig Benson, director of career exploration at the MU Career Center. “Career services on campus can help you at any point along the way, including assistance with finding occupational information, identifying job leads, writing resumes, practicing interviewing and much more. A full list of career services offices at Mizzou can be found at www.HireMizzouGrads.com.”

MU also had the highest graduation rate among public universities in the state of Missouri. Nearly 69 percent of MU's students graduated within six years. Approximately 3,400 MU students responded to the Mizzou survey. The MU survey requested information from students who had graduated during the 2005-06 academic year.