Gainful Employment

Gainful Employment is defined as the ability of a college graduate to receive consistent work and payment from an employer using the credentials earned at an institution of higher learning (Law Dictionary, 2016). Southwestern Christian University offers a variety of degree programs for student preparation into a number of vocations including but limited to educations, business, and other liberal arts based programs. Based on the diversity of our programs our Office of Institutional Effectiveness has gathered some data which can be seen below, but will continue to gather data each year to ensure that Southwestern Christian University is providing the most accurate data it can provide.

DATA IS TAKEN FROM THE ANNUAL GRADUATION QUESTIONNAIRE GIVEN TO SCU GRADUATES.

IMMEDIATE PLANS FOLLOWING GRADUATION

For immediate plans following graduation in the “Other” field for 2017/2018, 3% indicated employment in ministry, and 1% for owning their own business.  In the “Further Education, Full-time” category 1% indicated Full-time employment and Full-time Graduate Student. These “Other” selections are excluded from the data in Table E2.

 

TABLE E1

Plan

2014

2015

2016

2017/2018

Employment, Full-time (in position related to field of study)

45%

63%

42%

54%

Employment, Full-time (in position NOT related to field of study)

15%

5%

11%

8%

Employment, Part-time (in position related to field of study)

9%

3%

0%

5%

Employment, Part-time (in position NOT related to field of study)

2%

0%

3%

0%

Further Education, Full-time

15%

12%

28%

13%

Further Education, Part-time

5%

5%

9%

9%

Military Service

0%

1%

0%

1%

Volunteer Service (e.g. Peace Corps, Unpaid Missions)

0%

1%

1%

2%

Marriage and/or Starting a Family (No Working Outside of the Home)

0%

0%

0%

2%

No plans

5%

3%

1%

2%

Other

5%

7%

6%

4%

 

  1. CURRENT EMPLOYMENT STATUS FOR RESPONDENTS AT TIME OF SURVEY

All respondents for 2017/2018 in the “Have not started Searching for a Job” category have stated that they will begin shortly after commencement.

 

TABLE E2

Five-year Trend – Full-time Employment After Graduation (In Related Field)

Plan

2014 (45%)

2015 (63%)

2016 (42%)

2017/2018 (54%)

Working in Related Field

56%

36%

33%

46%

Searching for Position for Which to Apply

0%

9%

13%

12%

Working in Non-related Field

13%

9%

11%

10%

Working in Non-related Field; Seeking Field Employment

10%

18%

17%

10%

Declined a Position; Awaiting the Right Position

0%

4%

2%

0%

Accepted a Position to Begin After Graduation

7%

11%

9%

3%

Considering At Least One Offer

0%

4%

0%

0%

Applied to Positions; Not Interviewed

0%

7%

11%

5%

Interviewed; Awaiting Offer

10%

0%

2%

3%

Have Not Started Searching for a Job

3%

9%

2%

11%

 

TABLE E3

Five-year Trend – Full-time Employment After Graduation (In Non-Related Field)

Plan

2014 (15%)

2015 (12%)

2016 (11%)

2017/2018 (8%)

Working in Related Field

10%

25%

8%

0%

Searching for Position for Which to Apply

0%

25%

0%

33%

Working in Non-related Field

70%

50%

42%

67%

Working in Non-related Field; Seeking Field Employment

0%

0%

17%

0%

Declined a Position; Awaiting the Right Position

0%

0%

0%

0%

Accepted a Position to Begin After Graduation

10%

0%

0%

0%

Considering At Least One Offer

0%

0%

0%

0%

Applied to Positions; Not Interviewed

0%

0%

0%

0%

Interviewed; Awaiting Offer

10%

0%

8%

0%

Have Not Started Searching for a Job

0%

0%

25%

0%

 

  1. FURTHER EDUCATION

A report from the National Center for Educational Statistics (linked below), shows the estimated number of master's degrees to be conferred in 2016-2017 to be 44% of the number of bachelor's degrees conferred. From these statistics, it can be assumed that on a national scale, a rough estimate of 44% of students with a bachelor's degree plan to pursue further education at a graduate degree level.

http://nces.ed.gov/programs/digest/d12/tables/dt12_310.asp?referrer=report

 

Using the national data linked above, it can be surmised that SCU falls below the estimated national average of graduating students who anticipate completing a degree beyond their received degree, Table F reflects trending data for SCU.

 

TABLE F

Five-year Trend – Further Education After Graduation

 

2014

2015

2016

2017/2018

Total

20%

17%

37%

20%

Full-time

15%

12%

28%

12%

Part-time

5%

8%

9%

8%

    Seeking Bachelor

31%

15%

17%

9%

    Seeking Master

67%

69%

71%

74%

    Seeking Doctorate

8%

15%

12%

17%

 

Table G shows the five-year data for SCU academic programs with students pursuing further education. The “Grads” column reflects the number of students self-identified as graduating in that field of study. The “F.E.” column reflects the percentage of Grads who plan to pursue further education after graduation.

 

TABLE G

Five-year Trend – Further Education by Program Completed

Program

2014

2015

2016

2017/2018

 

Grads

F.E.

Grads

F.E.

Grads

F.E.

Grads

F.E.

Behavioral Sci / Related

14

7%

25

8%

27

33%

22

14%

Biblical / Ministry

16

19%

18

28%

25

32%

28

21%

Business / Prof. Leadership

19

26%

14

7%

15

40%

43

14%

General / Liberal Studies

3

67%

2

100%

5

60%

3

67%

English

1

100%

6

0%

5

0%

0

NA

Sports Studies

6

0%

9

33%

24

54%

12

42%

Prof. Teacher. Ed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

4

50%

History

1

100%

1

0%

0

NA

1

0%

Music

0

NA

3

0%

2

100%

1

0%

Other

4

0%

3

0%

7

0%

0

NA

 

LOCATION OF EMPLOYMENT

Twelve states and one country outside the U.S. were indicated as locations of employment for those who are already working or have accepted a position to begin after graduation.  To compare, in 2016 only four states and one country were reported.  The increase in the spread of states may be due to the realization of the enrollment/graduation cycle for many of our online students.

The highest state of employment was Oklahoma with 79%, followed by a tie between Texas, Florida, New Jersey, and Mississippi with 3% each.  The other states listed were Arizona, Georgia, Indiana, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and South Dakota. 

One student reported that they accepted a position in China after graduation.

 

SALARIES/WAGES

Chart A.1 shows the breakdown of majors by salary/wage of graduates working Full-Time or accepted Full-Time employment, related or not to their field of study.

Chart A.2 shows the breakdown of majors by salary/wage of the graduates currently working Full-Time in their field of study combined with those who accepted a Full-Time position in their field of study to begin after graduation.

 

CHART A.1 – Full-Time

 

CHART A.2 – Full-Time

 

 

TABLE H

Five-year Salary Trend (All Full-time Employed)

 

2014

2015

2016

2017/2018

Under $25,000

41%

46%

46%

17%

$25,000-$40,000

41%

31%

34%

54%

$40,001-$65,000

5%

15%

17%

21%

$65,001-$80,000

5%

8%

0%

2%

$80,001-$100,000

0%

0%

2%

6%

Over $100,000

7%

0%

0%

0%

 

SOURCES OF LOCATING EMPLOYMENT

Table I shows the Five-year trend for sources SCU students used to find employment. This chart includes all students currently employed or student who accepted a position to begin after graduation.

 

TABLE I

Five-year Trend – Sources for Employment

 

2014

2015

2016

2017/2018

Career Fair at SCU

0%

2.8%

0%

0%

Career Services at SCU

0%

2.8%

2%

0%

Faculty Member

2%

2.8%

5%

10%

Family/Friend

44%

41.7%

42%

46%

Job Board/Ads (Indeed, Monster.com, Etc.)

5%

11.1%

5%

15%

Alumni of SCU

0%

5.6%

5%

2%

Employment Agency

2%

0%

15%

0%

Other

46%

33.3%

27%

6%

Already Employed before SCU

 

 

 

21%