Binghamton University graduates pursue a diverse set of opportunities after they finish their undergraduate education. The Fleishman Center for Career and Professional Development tracks the progress of students after they finish their degrees, collecting data on where they work and go to graduate school.
Francis Borrego, the senior assistant director of marketing and assessment at the Fleishman Center, said that most of the data collected comes from the senior survey, which polls seniors several times post-graduation. The survey has increased in responses to 91 percent of graduates in recent years and the most recent data, cited here, is from the graduating class of May 2015.
Borrego said that while the average salary for a college graduate across the country is approximately $50,000, a BU student can expect to make $55,049 on average.
And that number is just for those students who decide to enter the job market directly after graduation. Thirty-six percent of graduates instead chose to continue their education, primarily by entering graduate school programs.
“BU does a really good job at preparing students to go on for advanced degrees,” Borrego said. “You can see that in the graduate school list.”
At the date of graduation, the success rate for students seeking employment or admission to graduate school was 67 percent, according to data provided by the Fleishman Center for the class of May 2015. Additionally, 79 percent of students obtained their “desired position” in either graduate school or with an employer within eight months after graduation.
“The more data we collect, the better information we can give to students,” Borrego said.
BU graduates as a whole make approximately $55,000 upon graduation, but this is not evenly distributed amongst the schools within the University.
The Thomas J. Watson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences boasts the highest average salary at $63,257. The Watson School also has a relatively high number of students who seek employment directly after graduation at 70 percent.
Following closely behind the Watson School is the School of Management (SOM) at an average of $60,140. The business administration and accounting majors of SOM have the highest employment rate for those who choose to forgo graduate school at 90 percent.
Next is the Decker School of Nursing, where students make about the same as the average BU graduate at $55,011. Nursing students are the most likely to seek employment right after graduation, with 93 percent of students reporting that they began looking for jobs right after graduation.
Students of Harpur College of Arts and Sciences make up the largest swath of BU graduates every year by a significant margin: 1,135 out of 1,923 respondents graduated from a Harpur College program. The average Harpur College graduate makes $45,384 annually.
Harpur also had the highest number of students who planned on attending graduate school: 78 percent of those planning on continuing their education were enrolled six months after graduation.
Lastly, the College of Community and Public Affairs (CCPA) has the smallest graduating class of any school at BU: only 73 respondents answered the senior survey. The average starting salary for a CCPA student who does not attend graduate school is $32,576. However, a full 12 percent of CCPA graduates pursue volunteering opportunities after graduation — much higher than any other school.
Carolyn Schapiro, director of the SOM’s Career Services office, said that their calculations come up with slightly different numbers for SOM students because they base their numbers on “placement in business.”
SOM Career Services reports a $63,312 average starting salary in 2016 for those who graduate with a bachelor of science degree. The office also said that students with a master’s degree in business administration make $65,000 on average and students with a master’s degree in accounting average $59,942.