As students near the end of their undergraduate education at Saint Mary’s College, the Career Services Office has launched a survey for graduates to share their postgraduate experiences.
Stacie Jeffirs, director of career services at the Prikkel Advising and Career Experience Center, discussed the First Destination Survey, which analyzes the trends of graduates from the annual Grad Fair up until six months after graduation, typically by mid-October. Subsequently, they have a five-year survey that collects student responses, which will still be continued this year.
Discontinued in 2024, the Graduate Destination Survey was the main questionnaire administered by the office for senior students, which would collect students’ responses on their future pathways. That survey also started from the Grad fair to when they graduate.
“It was more like an internal survey to give us a pulse on what was happening, like students that needed additional guidance, career support prior to graduation,” Jeffirs said.
They would also release a one-year survey where data was only collected six months post-graduation. Now, the Graduate Destination survey and the one-year survey have been combined to be able to simplify the collection process.
“The reason behind doing this one is to streamline the data because we were collecting a lot of very similar types of data with both of the surveys, which leads to a lot of survey fatigue from graduates. Filling out two different surveys at different points in time, we also get better response rates,” she said.
Jeffirs shared that it also helps the College in comparing its data to other institutions that also use the forum. The newly revamped survey allows for a shorter window to gain information from and be able to report and utilize.
159 of Saint Mary’s 373 seniors have responded to the survey. According to the data, half the respondents is transitioning into employment, while the other half will be continuing their education. One percent of students is non-seeking and may be doing temporary employment or gap year experiences.
In terms of pursuing further education, some respondents are pursuing master’s degrees at Boston College, with another senior planning to obtain their law degree from DePaul University and one going to occupational therapy at Grand Valley State University. Another shared that they will begin a doctorate in chemistry at the University of Nebraska, and another will be doing a master’s of public health at the University of Minnesota. A senior student will be doing a doctorate in dental medicine at Midwestern University.
Locally, one student will be pursuing a doctorate in clinical psychology at Northwestern University. Some students will be doing their master’s portion of the speech-language pathology program at Saint Mary’s, and others will be undertaking a doctorate in nursing practice.
In terms of employment, several nurses will be heading to Memorial Hospital in South Bend, one working at Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago and another at a Cleveland clinic. Some students will also be pursuing education and teaching, and another plans to work as a vet assistant.
Jeffirs noted that these experiences are not cumulative, and they aim to have a response rate of 70% to 75% by the end of the survey timeline.
“Because this survey is so early in the collection of the data, we’ve just started collecting data in March, and we have several more months to collect the data. This is not likely how the numbers are going to shake out at the end, but it is typical of what we see this time of year,” she stated.
In reference to last year, she shared that 59% of students were working, 33% continued their education, 3% were still looking for opportunities, while 2% pursued volunteering, 2% were non-seekers and 1% chose the military. She shared that the range being considered for this year and last year is typical, as about 28% to 33% typically choose to pursue postgraduate studies after Saint Mary’s, considering that specific programs at the College include four-plus-one programs and engineering degrees.
She noted that in recent years, students are less likely to go into service work, which is oftentimes attributed to an unstable economic climate or employment projection.
“It’s not the path the majority of our students take. But I have seen the numbers going down a little bit on that. And I think some of that, oftentimes, is attributed to just when the economy is better, people tend to go out and work,” Jeffirs explained.
AI is also shifting a bit of the market landscape, but, according to Jeffirs, not much in redesigning jobs but rather in how prospective employees can utilize AI and how proficient they are when it comes to the position.
“I would say overall the impact in terms of fields that students are pursuing isn’t so much impacted directly by AI, but how they will be doing their work, and the expectations from employers in terms of use of AI in the workplace. I think that’s where we’re seeing the biggest change or shift,” she mentioned.
She continued, “Although a majority of employers aren’t specifically stating that they’re looking for people with AI skills or to use AI in their jobs yet, I think that that’s going to sort of unfold quickly over the next year or a couple of years, but we have seen a pretty significant increase.”
A benchmark institution for the College, the National Association of Colleges and Employers, said that a small percentage of employers, about 10.7%, are considering AI to replace jobs, while the majority of employers are considering the technology within established positions. The number of employers that require employees to be proficient in AI usage has nearly tripled from fall 2025 to spring 2025, from 13.3% to 35%.
As commencement closes in, she hopes students will be able to fully utilize the Careers Services office once they graduate, as the office is year-round and offers free lifetime services for students as they figure out and transition through different career paths.
“We know, sometimes right after graduation is when students will kick it up a little bit to look at their post-graduation plans and what they’re doing. And as they need guidance and assistance, they can reach out to us, and we’re happy to help support them,” Jeffirs said.
