This Outcomes Dashboard currently displays the first destinations of 11 graduating classes (2013-2023). Below is an overview of data sources and other technical explanations.
For the 2013--2020 graduating classes, each summer, the Office of Institutional Research (formerly, Institutional Analysis or OIA) produced an annual report on the placement rates, employment information, graduate school attendance info, and other statistics (e.g., placement by Major) within 12 months after graduating from Gettysburg. These reports provided a snapshot of our graduates' first destinations and were published on the Office of Institutional Research (OIR) website (under Alumni Surveys); they used data collected by the Center for Career Engagement (CCE) and the OIR. In addition to Knowledge Rates, Outcomes Rates, and other summary statistics, each report included two appendices: Appendix A (Employment by Major: Job Title; Employer; Employment Location), and Appendix B (graduate school attendance by Major: Graduate School; Graduate Degree; Graduate Field of Study).
Largely based on the summary statistics and appendices in those reports, OIR created this data visualization--an interactive dashboard--which was launched in April 2022. Initially, a total of eight graduating classes were included in the dashboard (2013-2020 graduating classes). In mid-December 2022, the 2021 graduating class data were added to the dashboard. In February 2024, the 2022 graduating class data were added. In April 2025, the 2023 graduating class data were added.
This dashboard enables a user to select a graduating class(es) and a Major, and see those graduates’ employment and graduate schools within 12 months after graduating from Gettysburg. For each of these 11 graduating classes, a large sample is displayed. In total:
- about 3,900 graduates are displayed in the Employers section.
- about 1,180 graduates are displayed in the Graduate Schools section.
- Taking into account approximately 46 graduates displayed in both sections -- those who were both employed (in a position other than being a graduate assistant) and attending graduate school within that timeframe, we have about 5,020 graduates (unduplicated headcount) displayed on the dashboard (i.e., about 460 per graduating class).
- Total number of unique employers represented: about 2,670
- Total number of unique graduate schools represented: about 346
Some graduates self-reported on the two surveys administered near graduation (see below) that they had accepted a job offer or would be attending graduate school in the coming fall. Some self-reported so on the one-year-out alumni survey. Yet they did not provide their employer or graduate school name and no LinkedIn profile was found (at the time of the study). Therefore these graduates are not displayed on the dashboard.
Note:
(1) Many students accepted a job offer upon graduation, and the great majority of the remaining individuals planning to work found employment within 6 months after graduation.
(2) The overwhelming majority of graduates attending graduate school started their graduate study in the fall of their graduation year. A few started in January of the subsequent year.
(3). Students who graduated with double majors are included in the display of employer and graduate school information of both majors. For example, when you select the 2019 graduating class and the French major, you will notice a graduate pursuing a PhD in Microbiology/Virology; when you select the 2019 graduating class and the Biology major, that information is displayed as well, as that graduate was a double major (of French and Biology).
(4) A small percentage of graduates were both employed and attending graduate school; they were coded based on their (supposed) primary activity (Employed or Attending Graduate School) and were counted only once in the calculation of outcomes rates.
(5) In the original reports produced by the OIR, some December graduates were included in the graduating class of the same calendar year; in the Fact Book, they were designated as part of the subsequent graduating class; for example, some December 2019 graduates were included as part of the 2019 graduating class in the OIR report, while the Fact Book designated them as part of the 2020 graduating class. For December graduates, this dashboard keeps the original designation used in the OIR reports. Note that some December graduates, however, are displayed as part of the subsequent graduating class.
(6) This dashboard is interactive. You can select one or more graduating classes. You can select one or All majors. When you click an Industry (e.g., Education) in the Word Cloud, that Industry will be highlighted (shaded in light blue) and the Employers, Positions & Location linked with that Industry will appear. To clear your selection and show all data (restore the full view), you need to click that same Industry again; otherwise, you are stuck with a partial view. In the Graduate Education section, when you click a graduate degree (e.g., PhD), the graduate schools and graduate fields linked with that degree will appear.
Data Sources
Primary Data Sources
- Alumni Follow-up Survey conducted annually by the CCE, typically during late spring or early summer of the year following graduation;
- 2013--2020 graduating classes: LinkedIn profile search conducted by the OIR and the CCE, typically during the spring and early summer of the year following graduation. (Note. For this dashboard purpose, additional LinkedIn profile search was conducted by the OIR during winter 2021-22 and early spring of 2022 for the 2013-2020 graduating classes, to obtain career information of those "Unknown" individuals by checking that particular 12-month period following their graduation; these were the graduates for whom no career information was available when the OIR released its original report for that particular graduating class. Because of the additional information obtained through the recent search, the Knowledge Rates and Outcomes Rates (e.g., what % were employed) were adjusted, resulting in a slight increase (1~6%) in the Knowledge Rates, but no change in the combined percentage of "Employed" and "Attending Graduate School/Pursuing Further Education" compared with the figures in the original PDF reports by the OIR.
- Starting from the 2021 graduating class, the employment and graduate school data were mostly collected by the CCE, with some data cleaning, edits, and additional LinkedIn profile search performed by OIR.
Secondary Data Sources
- 2013-2019 graduating classes: HEDS Graduating Senior Survey (conducted annually in mid-April to early May by OIR)
- Senior Commencement Prep Day Survey (conducted annually in mid-April to early May by CCE in recent years)
- Academic departments and personal knowledge of the CCE staff
- For a small number of graduates, information was obtained from Facebook, company websites, or graduate school websites.
Outcome Categories and Rates
- 2013-2020 graduating classes: the summary statistics (Knowledge Rates; % Employed; % Attending Graduate School/Pursuing Further Education; % Other; % Seeking Employment) were provided by OIR.
- For the 2021 and 2022 graduating classes, the summary statistics were provided by CCE.
- For the 2023 graduating classes, the summary statistics were provided by OIR and CCE.
The “Employed” category also includes graduates who were in military service or in national service (e.g., Teach for America).
The “Other” category includes graduates who were applying to graduate school, travelling, or volunteering (but not in National Service).
Positions (Job Titles)
A graduate's Position/Job Title was based on his/her self-reported job title on the one-year-out alumni survey or LinkedIn profiles. Some Positions/Job Titles were collapsed/combined for this dashboard purpose. For example, teachers of all grades and subjects were collapsed into one Position/Job Title category: Teacher; various analysts such as business analysts, financial analysts, research analysts were combined into one Position/Job Title category: Analyst.
Graduate School Study Type
The “Medicine/Health Professions” Category includes the following:
- Graduates pursuing a medical doctorate in the following fields: MD (Doctor of Allopathic Medicine), DO (Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine), DDS (Doctor of Dental Surgery) or DMD (Doctor of Medicine in Dentistry or Doctor of Dental Medicine), DVM (Doctor of Veterinary Medicine), DPT (Doctor of Physical Therapy), DOT (Doctor of Occupational Therapy), PharmD (Doctor of Pharmacy), OD (Doctor of Optometry), and DC (Doctor of Chiropractic). This group constitutes the largest proportion within the Medicine/Health Professions Category.
- Graduates pursuing a master’s degree in: Nursing, Physical Therapy, Physician Assistant/Physician Assistant Studies, and Occupational Therapy
- Graduates pursuing a master’s degree in: Clinical Psychology, Acupuncture & Herbology, Biomedicine, Cardiovascular Perfusion, Clinical Exercise Physiology, Dietetics, Exercise & Sport Science, Exercise Physiology, Exercise Science, Genetic Counseling, Human Nutrition, Nutrition Education/Sciences, Surgery
- Graduates pursing a second/accelerated bachelor’s degree in Nursing (BSN)
- One graduate pursuing a DVM/PhD (a combined-degree program: Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences; from the 2017 graduating class)
- Two graduates (one from the 2017 graduating class; the other from the 2022 graduating class) pursuing a Psy.D (Doctor of Psychology; graduate field: Clinical Psychology)
- One graduate (from the 2014 graduating class) pursuing a MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery)
Graduate School Name
- "The Pennsylvania State Univ." refers to the Penn State Main Campus located at University Park, except for a few graduates who attended Penn State Dickinson Law which is located at Carlisle.
- "West Virginia Univ." refers to its main campus in Morgantown.
- "Univ. of Georgia" refers to its Athens Campus.
- "Univ. of New Hampshire" refers to its main campus in Durham.
2024 Graduating Class
Outcomes of this graduating class will be added to the dashboard at a later date in 2025.
For questions about this dashboard, please contact Suhua Dong, Director of Institutional Research, at sdong@gettysburg.edu. You are also invited to take this brief survey to offer your feedback on this dashboard.