Office of Public Affairs
(315) 312-2265
Nov. 5, 2003
CONTACT: Bob Casper, 312-2255
OSWEGO GRADS STRONG DESPITE WEAK JOB MARKET
OSWEGO -- About nine out of 10 2002 SUNY Oswego
graduates had either found employment or were in graduate school within
a year of earning their degree, according to the latest "Beyond Oswego"
survey.
The survey, coordinated by the college's Office of
Career Services, found 76 percent of graduates employed full time, an
increase from 73 percent the previous year. The average salary was
$30,779.
"In that recent two-year span, the job market for
college graduates changed from bright to less than bright, so we were
pleasantly surprised to see the trends for our graduates were so
strong," said Bob Casper, director of career services at SUNY Oswego.
A national recruiting survey from Michigan State
University found companies expected to reduce their college hires in
2002 by 20 percent, so Oswego graduates appeared to buck the trend,
Casper said. The class faced the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks and the
economic downturn.
Students appeared to find jobs closer
geographically. The survey found 44 percent of those employed were in
Central New York, up from 40 percent a year earlier. Fifteen percent of
employed graduates had found jobs outside New York state, a drop from
20 percent.
"The teaching job market for this class was better
than it had been for five years, which may have enabled more people to
find jobs without leaving the state," Casper noted. Ninety-two percent
of employed School of Education graduates were in the state, up from 84
percent.
The percent of graduates pursuing further education
fell from 14 to 12 percent, which Casper found a bit surprising. "When
the job market is depressed, more people tend to go to graduate
school," he explained.
The survey found 83 percent of graduates from
Oswego's School of Business had full-time jobs with an average salary
of $33,991; another 5 percent were in graduate schools. Seventy-nine
percent of 2002 School of Education graduates were employed full-time
with an average salary of $33,074; another 13 percent sought advanced
degrees. For the College of Arts and Sciences, 72 percent worked
full-time with salaries averaging $27,776, while 15 percent chose
graduate school.
The highest paying positions listed were a finance
major earning $85,000 as a bookkeeper/accountant at a medical center
and a psychology graduate making $80,000 as an investigator for the New
York State Police. Other top earners included a computer science major
working as a software engineer ($67,500), a public justice major who
was a federal air marshal ($61,000) and a mathematics major who became
a computer trainer and consultant ($60,000).
While a significant number of graduates pursued
advanced degrees at SUNY Oswego, others attended such schools as Yale
University, the University of Arizona, the Columbia University
Teacher's College and the John Jay College of Criminal Justice.
In all, 1,075 graduates returned surveys for an
impressive 76 percent response rate, Casper said.
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