Survey Highlights: Spring 2021

Where are Members of the 2021 Graduating Class Headed?

Release date: June 25, 2021

From April 19, 2021 to mid-May 2021, the Office of Institutional Analysis (IA) administered the HEDS Senior Survey to the 2021 graduating class. All expected May and August graduates were invited to take the survey. 439 seniors completed the HEDS Senior Survey, resulting in a response rate of about 80%. Additionally, from April 19 to May 10, Center for Career Engagement administered the Senior Prep Day Survey to collect career placement information (survey response rate: about 85%). The IA Office merged the two survey datasets and Major data retrieved from PeopleSoft. Despite the disruptions of the COVID-19 pandemic, survey results show strong evidence of career placement outcomes reported near graduation. Highlighted below are select survey results.

• Many seniors reported having accepted a job offer. Examples of employers include: Amazon, American International Group, Inc., AT & T, Becton Dickinson, Chubb, Deloitte, Ecosystems LLC, EchoStar/Hughes Communication, Ellucian, Federal Reserve, Fidelity Investments, Hamilton Place Strategies, Hanover Research, Lockton Companies, McAdam financial, Mullen Coughlin LLC, National Park Service, National Portrait Gallery, Oracle, PURE Insurance, Reproductive Medicine Associates of New Jersey, RSM US, Sensenig Capital Advisors, Teach For America, T. Rowe Price, US Department of Defense, US Department of Justice, Vanguard, and WarnerMedia.
• About 90 seniors (or 16% of the sample) reported having been accepted into graduate school/pursuing further education (this % is about one percentage point lower than that of the pre-COVID year--the 2019 May graduates). Seven seniors will attend graduate schools abroad: The American University of the Caribbean School of Medicine (AUC) (Sint Maarten), Queen's University Belfast (Northern Ireland), London School of Economics and Political Science, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, University of Edinburgh (2), and University of Luxembourg. 56% will be pursing a master's degree; 38% (N=32), doctoral degree (including 11 PhD, 13 JD, and 8 medical degree). Six international students and 14 domestic students of color reported having been accepted into graduate school.
• 13 seniors reported their primary planned activity after graduation is volunteer or national service (Peace Corps, AmeriCorps, Teach for America, etc.)
• 5 seniors reported their primary planned activity after graduation is military service. They reported having secured employment with the following: US Army (2), US Marine Corps, US Department of Defense, and 619th Transportation Company.
• Despite the disruptions of the pandemic, a sizable majority of the graduating seniors participated in high-impact/enriching learning experiences (e.g., internships, study abroad, etc.) during their undergraduate education at Gettysburg. For example, 56% reported having worked with faculty on research, and 82%, having participated in community service.

A Sample of Graduate Schools 2021 Graduating Seniors were Accepted into (Listed by Undergraduate Major) :

Note: (1) Some seniors completed two undergraduate majors; both majors were listed above. Departments should look under both "Major 1" and "Major 2" when looking for their graduates. (2) Ten seniors, although accepted into graduate school, did not report their graduate school name or graduate degree on the survey; these students are noted with "N/A". (3) A few seniors, although accepted into graduate school, reported they would defer enrollment until later. (4) 11 seniors reported being waitlisted at the time of taking the survey; they were not included in any of the statistics or the table above. (5) The final sample used only included May graduates and a few pending August graduates (no December 2020 graduates).

2021 graduating class One-Year-Out Career Outcomes Study will be conducted in Spring 2022 (within a year after graduation), which will provide more complete placement results.