Career Preparation
Life After Graduation
Learning for the sake of learning is admirable and certainly adds meaning to your life. But being able to apply that knowledge with purpose and relevance is what allows you to take
action on the great issues of the day and make a difference—not to mention succeed in an increasingly complex and demanding global economy.
At the University of Denver, you will be immersed in a learning environment that not only expands your intellectual capital, but also prepares you to use it. That's why in this tough economy, DU's job placement rate as of graduation day is almost double that of the national average.
The Facts and Figures
Employment
At the time of 2012 graduation, DU students were employed at nearly twice the rate of the national average.
The above national data is from the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
Students have found meaningful employment across a wide variety of sectors. Here is a sampling of some of the largest employers of DU graduates:
Students are finding employment throughout the United States and the world. DU 2012 graduates had a median income of $40,000 and a mean income of $39,654.
We offer extensive career services across campus to help students set goals and find the resources they need to take the next step in their life journey. Here is a sampling of the services available to our students:
Financial Commitment
Financial Aid Awards: Each year the University of Denver awards undergraduates more than $116 million in financial assistance. We proactively try to help students minimize the amount of debt they take on to fund their education as well as provide additional financial literacy support throughout their four years.
Default rates: The undergraduate students who finish their degree at the University of Denver traditionally have very low default rates (the percentage of a school's borrowers who default on loan payments). Our students receive wide-ranging support from the career center and from faculty within their discipline to help them find meaningful work after graduation; this allows them to begin paying back any educational loans they may have and learn to be wise money managers.
The above data is from the College Affordability and Transparency Center.
We just received the initial results for our 3-year draft default rate for the entering fall 2010 cohort and it looks like we are down to 3%! The national results will be available for comparison in the fall of 2013.
Internships
If you want to make more money—do an internship! National research findings suggest an internship premium of nearly 20% in favor of those who have completed internships or other work-related experience. Because over half of internships nationwide are unpaid, we want to make sure all students have access to these types of experiences. Our students have several resources depending on their field of study and can apply for stipends to help make an unpaid internship a financially viable option.
At any given time the Career Center lists 1500+ current internship opportunities in their databases-- between Pioneer Careers (specific postings for DU students) and UCAN (a consortium of 22 colleges including Boston College, Brown, Emory, Oberlin, Harvard, Pepperdine, Tulane, Notre Dame, University of Chicago and other sister institutions that share access to internship opportunities).
The following indicates the percentage of students who have completed at least one internship. In addition, over half of our students completed more than one internship during their time at DU.
The above national data is from the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
Success Stories
