Fast Facts: Employment after degree (1157)

Employment after degree

Question:
Do you have statistics on employment characteristics of students with a bachelor’s degree?

Response:

Four years after earning their 2015–16 bachelor’s degrees, 74 percent of graduates worked full time, and 7 percent worked part time. Fourteen percent of graduates were out of the labor force, and 4 percent were unemployed.¹

Percentage distribution of 2015�16 bachelor�s degree earners, by employment characteristics in 2020
Employment characteristics	2015�16 bachelor�s degree earners
Employment status as of 4 years after 2015�16 bachelor�s degree completion¹
Employed full time	74.3 (0.52)
Employed part time	7.5 (0.30)
Out of the labor force²	14.3 (0.43)
Unemployed³	4.0 (0.24)
Annualized earned income in most recent job as of 4 years after 2015�16 bachelor�s degree completion⁴
Lowest quarter of income	24.0 (0.51)
Lower middle quarter of income	24.7 (0.45)
Higher middle quarter of income	24.3 (0.48)
Highest quarter of income	24.3 (0.47)
No job within 4 years after bachelor�s degree completion	2.6 (0.20)
Occupation of most recent job as of 4 years after 2015�16 bachelor�s degree completion⁵
Business/management occupations	19.7 (0.49)
Life science occupations	1.3 (0.11)
Math, computer, and physical science occupations	8.0 (0.29)
Engineers	4.6 (0.20)
Nurses	6.0 (0.22)
Other health care occupations⁶	7.2 (0.26)
PreK�12 educators	5.8 (0.24)
Social services professionals	5.0 (0.21)
Sales occupations	5.8 (0.30)
Business support/administrative assistance	9.6 (0.36)
Other white-collar occupations⁷	12.8 (0.39)
Other occupations⁸	11.5 (0.33)
Military status as of 2020
Veteran	4.0 (0.19)
Active duty, Reserves, or National Guard	1.5 (0.14)
No military service	94.4 (0.22)

¹ Employment status is based on all of the respondent�s jobs and job-search activities 4 years after completion of the 2015�16 bachelor�s degree. ² �Out of the labor force� includes respondents who were not working and not looking for work. ³ �Unemployed� includes respondents who were not working but were looking for work. ⁴ Annualized earned income in most recent job is calculated for the respondent�s most recent job within 4 years of completing the 2015�16 bachelor�s degree. �Most recent job� is the respondent�s current job 4 years after bachelor�s degree completion or the respondent�s most recent job held for 4 or more months within 4 years after bachelor�s degree completion. If the respondent had more than one employer, then the employer with the longest duration was selected as the respondent�s most recent employer. �Lowest quarter of income� includes those with incomes greater than zero but less than $31,186; �lower middle quarter of income� includes those with incomes between $31,186 and $46,990; �higher middle quarter of income� includes those with incomes between $46,991 and $65,989; and those in the �highest quarter of income� had incomes of $65,990 or more. �No job within 4 years after bachelor�s degree completion� includes 2015�16 bachelor�s degree earners who never had a most recent job that they held for 4 or more months within 4 years after bachelor�s degree completion. ⁵ The 2.6 percent of 2015�16 bachelor�s degree earners who never had a job within 4 years after bachelor�s degree completion are included in the estimate denominator, but they are not reported again. See �No job within 4 years after bachelor�s degree completion� under �Annualized earned income in most recent job as of 4 years after 2015�16 bachelor�s degree completion� for information on this group. ⁶ �Other health care occupations� includes non-nurse health care professionals and other health care occupations. ⁷ �Other white-collar occupations� includes air transportation professionals, artists and designers, communication professionals, information professionals, legal professionals, postsecondary educators, other educators, and social scientists. ⁸ �Other occupations� includes agriculture occupations; construction and mining occupations; fitters, tradesmen, and mechanics; food service occupations; military; personal care occupations; protective service occupations; sports occupations; and transportation support occupations. NOTE: Standard errors in parentheses. Estimates pertain to individuals who completed the requirements for a bachelor�s degree in 2015�16 and were awarded their degree by a Title IV eligible postsecondary institution in the 50 states, the District of Columbia, or Puerto Rico no later than June 30, 2017. This table includes all 2015�16 bachelor�s degree earners, including the 8.7 percent of respondents for whom the 2015�16 bachelor�s degree was not their first bachelor�s degree. Detail may not sum to totals because of rounding.

¹ The period 4 years after respondents earned a bachelor�s degree included the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic for approximately half of the B&B:16/20 sample. For a more detailed look at employment status and other employment-related information in the context of COVID-19, see Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B:16/20): A First Look at the 2020 Experiences of 2015�16 College Graduates During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

SOURCE: National Center for Education Statistics. (2019). Baccalaureate and Beyond (B&B:16/20): A First Look at the 2020 Employment and Educational Experiences of 2015�16 College Graduates (NCES 2022-241). U.S. Department of Education, Institute of Education Sciences. Retrieved March 14, 2023, from https://nces.ed.gov/pubs2022/2022241.pdf.

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