Life After College

It's a well-known fact that very few of today's professionals will retire from the same career field in which they started. The leaders of tomorrow need to be adaptable, resourceful, and creative thinkers. They need to be articulate and persuasive when speaking and writing, be able to analyze data and synthesize information, and have honed their leadership capabilities. Employers and graduate schools actively seek CTCL graduates because they are able to anticipate and flex with change, think critically and clearly, communicate with accuracy and passion, and get things done.

While many families believe that an easily recognized name-brand school or large research university will guarantee success, the reality is that students from CTCL schools frequently outpace graduates of those institutions in the workplace and in graduate school. That's because CTCL schools provide a liberal arts and sciences education that gives students the skills and experiences they need to learn and keep learning in a rapidly changing world.

Small campuses like those found at CTCL schools bring tremendous opportunities for engagement and participation. It's harder to be anonymous at a small school, but easier to be challenged and recognized for your accomplishments. There are so many opportunities to meet interesting people, attend events, and get to know faculty members.

At small schools, students from varying backgrounds and with different life experiences interact regularly in classes, in residence halls, over meals, and in clubs, creating a more effectively diverse community than a large school can offer. Professors develop close relationships with their students (ones that endure long after graduation) and because of that are able to closely advise students about course work, internships, and future plans, as well as write personal, detailed recommendations for graduate schools and employers.

CTCL students leave college with confidence, experience, and a strong sense of vocation. They're ready to conquer the future because they've been challenged and have succeeded in meeting those challenges. The experience provides students with the poise and perspective that have become a hallmark of the education offered at these colleges that change lives.

Please read on for some examples of the paths CTCL students have followed after graduation.

DID YOU KNOW?
  • Austin College recently graduated three Fulbright Scholars, a Truman Scholar, three Rotary Ambassadorial Scholars, and awarded Phi Beta Kappa keys to 25 members of its last graduating class.
  • Approximately 35% of Austin College graduates attend graduate or professional school, with impressive acceptance rates to medical and law schools. For example, 2008 graduates attend Johns Hopkins Medical School, Harvard Law School, Princeton Theological Seminar, and many more.
  • Beloit College has a distinguished reputation in preparing students for graduate study. Beloit ranks among the top 20 selective liberal arts colleges in proportion of graduates obtaining doctoral degrees. And, in anthropology alone, more students who earned anthropology Ph.D.s in the last 40 years graduated from Beloit College than any other 4-year liberal arts college according to data from the National Science Foundation.
  • 93% of Centre College graduates are employed or in graduate school within six months of graduation.
  • The College of Wooster ranks 3rd in the nation in the number of Ph.D. degrees earned by its graduates. Wooster's senior capstone project is recognized by U.S. News & World Report as among the best such programs in the country.
  • Notable Denison University alumni include former CEO of Walt Disney Company, Michael Eisner, actors Steve Carell, Jennifer Garner and U.S. Senator Richard Lugar.
  • 100% of Earlham College students said they felt "at least as prepared" as their peers from other colleges after graduation.
  • According to the National Science Foundation's Survey of Earned Doctorates, Eckerd College ranks 69th overall and first in the state of Florida among baccalaureate colleges in the number of graduates who go on to earn doctoral degrees.
  • Guilford College graduates have gone on to pursue graduate programs at schools including Harvard University, Wake Forest University, George Washington University, University of Pennsylvania, Yale University, Duke University, and Carnegie Mellon University.
  • Hendrix College is one of only 47 institutions of higher education in the country that is eligible to nominate its graduating seniors for the Watson Fellowship, a $28,000 grant for one year of independent study and travel outside of the United States. Since 1985, 24 Hendrix students have been named Watson Fellows. Hendrix has also graduated 6 Rhodes Scholars, 12 Fulbright Scholars, 19 Goldwater Scholars, 2 Jack Kent Cooke Scholars, 2 Truman Scholars, 4 Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholars, a Howard Hughes Fellow, and an American Graduate Fellow.
  • Hiram alumni include James A. Garfield, 20th president of the United States; poet Vachel Lindsay; Bill White, former president of the National League of Baseball; Emmy winner Dave Bell Sr.; CNN news anchor Jan Hopkins, and Lance Liotta, chief of pathology at the National Cancer Institute.
  • Hope College graduates have been accepted to American University, Case Western, Columbia, Cornell, New York University, Northwestern, Notre Dame, and UCLA.
  • 99% of Kalamazoo College students who apply to dental and veterinary schools are accepted; up to 95% applying to medical and law schools are accepted.
  • Lawrence University students find themselves all over the map—geographically and experientially—when they graduate. About a third of them are attending graduate, medical and law school right after graduation at such places as Georgetown University, Mayo College of Medicine, Purdue University, University of Wisconsin, Yale University, and Boston College Law School. Another significant number of students start working right after they graduate in a mind-boggling array of professional fields at such places as Hiroshima Prefectural Government, The Clinton Foundation, Baltimore City Public Schools, Mediterranean Center for Arts & Sciences (Italy), Chicago Shakespeare Theatre, Peace Corps, and Humana. Finally, within the conservatory of music, more than a third of our students pursue their bachelor’s of music in music education. Our music education majors who have chosen to teach music after college have traditionally enjoyed a 100 percent placement rate.
  • 68% of Marlboro College students attend graduate school. Most frequently attended institutions include Antioch New England, Harvard, Columbia, The University of Vermont, and Yale.
  • Recent graduates of McDaniel College are enjoying life in the "real world." From a recent survey, 37% of recent graduates are enrolled in graduate school (Johns Hopkins, Drexel University, Duke University, University of Pennsylvania and Yale University are just some examples of where our recent grads are studying) and 72% of students are employed full-time (9% of them are concurrently enrolled in graduate school). Of that 72%, 73% are in a job related to their McDaniel major, and 31% had obtained their job before graduation.
  • Three Ohio Wesleyan University students were recently chosen as free agents in National Football League and Major League Baseball drafts.
  • In addition to the second-highest number of Rhodes Scholars from a liberal arts college and 97 National Science Foundation Fellowship winners, Reed College also has two Pulitzer-Prize winning alumni: Edward Cony (1961) and Gary Snyder (1975).
  • Southwestern University's outstanding career center helps more than 75% of the senior class find the right career or graduate school each year. Students begin thinking about their futures as early as freshman year, and can use the center to learn more about internships, study abroad, interview, and résumé skills, and using Southwestern's alumni network.
  • St. John's College is listed in the top 30 colleges in the nation in the number of graduates who go on to receive Ph.D. degrees.
  • 96% of St. Olaf College graduates report that they are happy in their careers.
  • Ursinus College graduates were recently accepted to medical, law, and graduate programs including Columbia, Tufts, Boston University, Duke, Georgetown, Harvard, Rutgers, and Temple University.
  • Wheaton College has 41 alumni serving as college, university, or seminary presidents. Over the past 25 years, one-third of Wheaton graduates in the natural sciences have completed doctorate degrees. In 2003, three Wheaton alumni were awarded Fulbright Scholarships to study and teach around the world.
  • Whitman students are consistent winners in national competition for prestigious fellowships. In the past ten years Whitties have won one Rhodes, 49 Fulbrights, 12 Watsons and 4 Trumans. Famous alumni include former Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas, Nobel laureate Walter Brattain, former General Electric CEO Ralph Cordiner, and current ambassador to Iraq Ryan Crocker.