Contact: Kelly L. Alexander, University Communications, 202-885-5952 or [email protected] Newswise — WASHINGTON, D.C. November 10, 2014 – American University announced today the availability of its new website We KNOW Success: Where AU Graduates Land. The website puts powerful data in the hands of future students and their families.
The site, which can be found at www.american.edu/weknowsuccess/, chronicles the success of AU students within six months of graduation. We KNOW Success combines data from three recent graduating classes of bachelor's and master's degree students (2011-2013). Families can check statistics by school (such as the College of Arts and Sciences or the School of Public Affairs), by major (economics, political science, etc.), or degree (bachelor's and master's, with some information about doctoral degree programs).
We KNOW Success establishes AU among the first universities to present simple, direct, specific and reliable information on the early and successful outcomes of graduates who earn undergraduate and master’s degrees. The information is presented in searchable, user-friendly form with animation, infographics and video. The site is rounded out with success stories of graduates who are active citizens, using their knowledge to create meaningful change.
"This website fits an existing need in the broader community of people who are considering attending universities like ours," says Gihan Fernando, executive director of the Career Center. "And it allows us to showcase some of the terrific successes that we've had over the years."
Even more powerful than the comprehensiveness of the data is the consistently good story it tells about AU:
• Nine out of ten AU grads earning a bachelor’s degree are employed, enrolled in graduate school, or both, within six months of graduation.• 85 percent of those who are working hold jobs related to their degree.• AU grads work in all sectors, with nearly half of those who earned a bachelor’s degree working in the non-profit and government sectors.• AU graduates who are working provide starting salary ranges, an early indicator of success.• Those enrolled in graduate school are enrolled in master’s and Ph.D. programs at excellent universities.• Similarly strong employment and salary outcomes are reported by students earning master’s degrees, with nine of out 10 working after graduation.
Today’s students and their families routinely seek straightforward, reliable information on success and outcomes for graduates as part of the college selection process. A proliferation of new rankings purporting to measure return on investment have sprung up in response, with most relying on data from severely limited volunteer samples to represent the employment and earnings of alumni by their undergraduate alma mater.
For many universities, collecting information on recent graduates yields low response rates and inconclusive results. Yet through assiduous data collection, strong community engagement, and active social media and LinkedIn monitoring, AU has achieved a remarkably high rate of completion for data gathered about the next destination of recent alumni.
"We realized we were sitting on a really powerful resource, in terms of this data," says Teresa Flannery, vice president for communication. "It's very unusual for a university of our size to have responses from three quarters or more of our graduates at both grad and undergraduate levels. And it seemed responsible to share that information and make it more widely available."
Starting salaries and student debt continue to be a topic of national discussion. Though nearly half of AU undergraduate students graduate with no student debt whatsoever, those that borrow have an average debt upon graduation in line with the national average for private universities. (It is worth noting that while the average debt nationally has increased 25 percent over the last five years, at AU, average debt has declined 21 percent, largely due to improved financial aid and financial literacy programs.)
In an era when debt to earnings ratios are being considered to guide questions of value, financial planners often advise that debt should be capped at no more than first year starting salary. We KNOW Success: Where AU Graduates Land will support informed decisions about affording an AU degree and enable better information about starting salaries and early employment prospects.
NOTE: Gihan Fernando is available for interviews. Teresa Flannery is also available for interviews this week from the American Marketing Association Annual Symposium for the Marketing of Higher Education in Austin, Texas where We KNOW Success will be discussed.
-AU-American University is a leader in global education, enrolling a diverse student body from throughout the United States and nearly 140 countries. Located in Washington, D.C., the university provides opportunities for academic excellence, public service, and internships in the nation’s capital and around the world.
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