Trent University Graduates Get Jobs: Provincial Survey

Trent graduates find work. A liberal arts and science education does prepare students for employment today.

Those are the messages in the findings of a survey of Trent University graduates of 1997 conducted by Ontario universities.

Graduates of 1997 have an overall employment rate nearing 93 per cent six months after graduation and that rose to nearly 96 per cent two years after graduation. The six-month employment figure is significantly higher than the 88.6 per cent rate shown by the survey of Trent's 1996 graduates.

"Trent graduates are in demand because of their ability to respond to today's rapidly-changing workplace demands," said President Bonnie Patterson. Ontario's chancellors, along with Canada's leading high tech CEOs, have publicly promoted the increasing value of a liberal arts education in the digital economy.

"Trent's survey findings reflect the extremely high employment average of this post-secondary system as a whole," she added, noting that surveys indicate that university graduates not only learn more than those with other academic credentials, but also earn more. "Trent graduates - with their high quality education - are in demand and continue to succeed in the job market, and their earning potential is also very strong in today's economy," said Patterson. "In the majority of programs surveyed, Trent indeed does better than the provincial average."

The Ontario Universities' Application Centre conducted this second annual survey on behalf of the Council of Ontario Universities under a contract with the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities. More than 19,614 graduates, or 45 per cent of the class of 1997, took part in the survey. It also reviewed graduates' earnings and how skills graduates acquired during their studies are being applied in the workplace.

The overall survey found that the employment rate for 1997 graduates of undergraduate degree programs was 96.44 per cent two years after graduation, and 93.14 per cent six months after graduation.

Trent's Social Sciences and Humanities program graduates had employment rates of 94.4 per cent and 97.4 per cent respectively two years out, illustrating the high employability of such graduates, contrary to myth. Graduates of Trent's Business Administration program reported full employment just six months post-graduation. Ninety per cent of Trent's Computer Science grads reported work and 100 per cent of mathematics graduates.

Go to survey results for Trent University. For provincial employment rates by university program, visit the COU site at http://www.cou.on.ca/publications/briefs_reports/online_pubs.htm.

Distribution: Peterborough, Regional