Baylor sets undergraduate placement rate record for 4th straight year

More Baylor graduates than ever before — nearly 9 in 10 — are finding jobs or starting a graduate school program after their time at Baylor is through.

In 2016, Baylor set a new record for undergraduate placement rate — for the fourth year in a row. (Placement rate is simply the percentage of students who have found a job or are studying in a graduate school program within 90 days of graduation.) For the Class of 2016, the stats bear out the improvement.

The new rate of 86.5% represents a 20-point increase from this time four years ago. That was when, with the launch of the Pro Futuris vision, university leaders set a goal of raising the placement rate to 90% within five years. With a year to go, Baylor is on pace to reach that mark.

What has sparked the improvement? Efforts to get students to think about the job search from their earliest days on campus are bearing fruit. In conjunction with the Pro Futuris charge, Baylor dedicated additional funds to dramatically increase the number of staff and resources offered by the Office of Career and Professional Development (CPD) in the Paul L. Foster Success Center. From their early days on campus, students are encouraged to think about steps they can be taking to find a job when they’re done — steps like devising a four-year plan that includes internships and other opportunities, and taking advantage of resources like resume writing workshops, job interview coaching and more.

Baylor CPD is also adding alumni resources to help graduates take advantage of CPD resources, such as job databases, job fairs, alumni mentors and more, which means that access (and assistance) doesn’t end once you graduate.

Sic ’em, Bears in the workforce!