How to find out Job placement rates and avg. salaries post graduation for first job

Career Opportunities & Internships
1

Hello,
I am helping my daughter build a college list and she is interested in CS/ Data Science with a minor in economics/ business.
Is there a site that has stats on job placement rates, avg. earning/ salary post graduation, major employers from a college/ department in that college etc. ?
Thanks

2

Some colleges do post the results of their post-graduation surveys stratified by major (which is very important), but, even when they are available, they are not consistent across colleges. For example, some may report median pay level, while others report mean pay level, and the time frame of the survey relative to graduation date may vary. For example, here is WUStL’s own career survey results, where you can select a major to see outcomes for that major: Career Outcome Data - Students

https://collegescorecard.ed.gov/ can help you compare across schools the pay levels by major for recent graduates who received federal financial aid as students. However, small majors (commonly at small schools, or schools where few received federal financial aid) may have insufficient data to show results. For example, here is the entry for WUStL: College Scorecard | College Scorecard

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You can look at each school. If they don’t show a report, contact career services and ask. Or contact the academic department for a report of their grads.

The govt data is skewed to people getting loans. WUSTL is a wealthy kid’s school so that won’t be reflective of the overall student body.

4

The short answer, in addition to the two well informed previous posts, is that there is no easy way to do that.

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5

I work in the tech and finance industry, and here’s my view:

  • CS is a highly employable field, so I wouldn’t worry about placement rates. At many schools, top employers will visit campus - at other schools you may have to put more effort to reach out, but the opportunities are there. Not everyone can or should land at a FAANG - there are plenty of local and regional employers that need CS grads.
  • the school makes a difference in how they prep students for the workforce, but the end result depends on the ability of each individual student.
  • as mentioned above, salary data by major is hard to find, and is skewed by location and other factors.
  • many schools (and especially the top CS schools) do publish a list of employers that have hired their grads so check their websites.
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6

You can search on LinkedIn as well. But there is no one place that will give you what you are looking for.