The majority of working Oxford campus alumni reported salaries between $40,000 and $69,999 in their first year.
The majority of working Oxford campus alumni reported salaries between $40,000 and $69,999 in their first year.

Miami grad success rate tops 96 percent

By Claire Wagner, university news and communications

With commencement two weeks away (May 13), this year’s Miami University graduates may be encouraged by the success of last year’s grads: 96.3 percent* of Miami Oxford students who graduated in 2015-2016 were employed or continuing their education by fall 2016.

Their median annual salary range was $50,000 to $59,999.

Miami obtained educational and employment data for 2,929 of the 3,685 students (79.5 percent) who graduated with bachelor’s degrees from the Oxford campus from August 2015-May 2016 to provide a collective snapshot of new alumni success.

Significant findings include:

  • 88.9 percent of employed Oxford campus alumni were working in a position that required a bachelor’s degree or higher.
  • 18.9 percent had enrolled in school, mostly graduate or professional schools.
  • Among alumni who were not enrolled in graduate or professional school, 91 percent were employed or had received a job offer, while 9 percent were not employed.
  • 31.8 percent of employed new alumni had previously worked for their current employer, most often as an intern or co-op student (21 percent).

Success is not limited to Oxford campus undergraduates:

  • Among bachelor’s degree recipients from the College of Liberal Arts and Applied Science at Miami’s Regionals, 94.8 percent were employed or enrolled in school, with 82 percent of employed alumni working in a position that requires a college degree.
  • For graduate degree recipients, 98 percent were employed or enrolled in school, and 23.6 percent of those employed were working at a college or university.

The majority of working Oxford campus alumni reported salaries between $40,000 and $69,999 in their first year:

  • 16.1 percent earn from $40,000-$49,999 annually.
  • 23.9 percent earn from $50,000-$59,999 annually.
  • 13.6 percent earn from $60,000-$69,999 annually.

Outstanding career and life preparation are among the reasons The Princeton Review included Miami in its Colleges That Pay You Back book. Payscale.com places Miami first among Ohio publics for tuition ROI (return on investment).

Employers are interviewing Miami students at record pace. Jennifer Franchak, assistant vice president of career exploration and success, said 314 employers were at last fall’s career fair, and the 2017 Spring Internship and Career Expo (ICE) drew 222 employers. In total, more than 1,600 organizations have recruited Miami students this academic year.

“Miami University students are highly sought after with top organizations from around the world recruiting our students and posting jobs and internships,” she said. “As employers continue to reduce the number of colleges and universities from which they recruit, Miami conducts over four times the number of on-campus interviews compared to peer institutions.”

Miami’s office of institutional research collected educational and career placement data for 2015?2016 Oxford campus bachelor’s degree recipients from numerous sources, including the New Alumni Online Survey, the New Alumni Phone Survey, graduation surveys (including surveys administered by institutional research, the Farmer School of Business, and the College of Engineering and Computing), the National Student Clearinghouse, public LinkedIn profiles, and Miami University’s Banner data system.

This is the fourth year for the report. More survey results are available at New Alumni Success Project.

* When individuals who are not actively job-seeking are excluded from placement counts, Oxford campus placement rates increase to 96.6 percent.