UNH Today

The results are in, and the Class of 2018 is off to a great start.

UNH Career and Professional Success (CaPS) recently released the Undergraduate Class of 2018 First Destination Report, produced by the UNH Office of Institutional Research and Assessment. With 80 percent of last year's undergraduate degree recipients responding, 95 percent reported positive outcomes. Specifically, 74.5 percent had secured employment with 20.5 percent pursuing further education. The remaining respondents reported they were seeking employment or educational opportunities. The newest success rate is up over past surveys in 2016 and 2017, which had success rate results of 93 percent.

“We set out a few years ago with the mission of Career and Professional Success to engage the entire UNH community in establishing career preparedness as a hallmark of a UNH education,” says Trudy Van Zee, associate vice provost. “Thanks to the UNH community’s collective efforts and our graduates’ hard work, we should all be proud of these continued strong results for the Class of 2018.”

Almost half of the responding graduates pursuing further education — 47 percent — chose UNH, with others studying at institutions including Boston University, Columbia, Cornell, Dartmouth, Duke, Harvard, London School of Economics, MIT, NYU and the University of Pennsylvania — to name a few.

On the job side of the post-baccalaureate equation, top employers include Liberty Mutual, Ernst & Young and Boston Children’s Hospital. Several additional employers, including Pfizer, Elliot Health System, Raytheon, Wayfair and Yelp, have also increased the number of UNH graduates they're hiring.

This year’s CaPS survey respondents reported high satisfaction with how their UNH education prepared them for their post-graduation pursuits. During their undergraduate years, 78 percent of the responding students participated in internships, with 22 percent taking part in research projects and 23 percent studying away from UNH. Another 42 percent reported presenting during the Undergraduate Research Conference, which showcases research and other academic pursuits at UNH. Members of the Class of 2018 also reported being very involved on campus during their time at UNH, with 72 percent participating in clubs and organizations.

Across the board, students reported it was their internships and academic coursework at UNH that best paved the way for professional success after graduation. Other experiences that made the list include participation in clubs and organizations, research and opportunities to study abroad or at other institutions.

This year’s survey report itself features something new: an interactive dashboard to view both university-wide and college-specific outcomes.

“We’re already gearing up for next year with a continued focus on the importance of engaging our students early and often in all of the resources and activities available to them. We’ve designed a pathway, the Wildcat Way to Professional Success, to guide students through the career development process,” Van Zee notes. “We understand the uncertain future our students face in the world of work and remain deeply committed to our roles as coaches, connectors and champions for the UNH community.”

View the full report and dashboard here.