Recently graduated undergraduates achieved employment at more than 90 percent.
Undergraduate students in the Jerry S. Rawls College of Business who earned their diplomas in December 2014 achieved a 90.7 percent job placement rate, the highest rate in the college's history.
Graduate students earning degrees in the same time period achieved a 93.6 percent job placement rate, according to statistics provided by the Rawls Career Management Center (CMC).
“The college is proud of reaching this milestone in student success,” said Lance Nail, dean of the Rawls College of Business. “This achievement reflects a business community that seeks the work ethic demonstrated by our students and the excellent preparation that they have received from our faculty and staff. Our students' success is our college's success and we will continue to invest in both and seek even greater achievements in the future.”
The undergraduate job placement rate continues an upward trend over the past four years. The placement rate in December 2010 was at 79.6 percent, while the rate for December 2013 was 88.6 percent. The job placement rate for the May 2014 semester was 89.6 percent.
“We are especially proud of the fact that we've reached over 90 percent undergraduate placement for the first time in Rawls Career Management Center history,” said Barry Broughton, senior director for the CMC and the Center for Global Engagement. “The fact that our statistics outpace national averages and continue to increase each semester is a true testament to the hard work and dedication of the entire CMC staff.”
By way of comparison, Texas Tech University as a whole has a 60 percent rate of graduating students who had a job at the time of graduation, and 75 percent of students landed a job within three months of graduation. Fewer than 3 percent of graduates take more than 6 months to find employment.
Within the Rawls College of Business, four majors had a job placement rate of 90 percent or higher for December 2014 undergraduates. Energy commerce graduates topped the list at 100 percent, followed by accounting (96.5 percent), management information systems (95.5) and marketing (90.2).
Starting salaries also saw an increase. December 2014 statistics showed undergraduates earned an average salary of $53,675, up from $52,418 from May 2014. Graduate students' salary rose from $55,813 to $65,787 in the same time frame.
Job placement for undergraduates takes into account anyone who was employed or progressed toward graduate school within 90 days of graduation. Full placement rates for December and previous semesters can be found at the CMC's website.