St. Kates ranks high for post-grad salaries in Minnesota

At the beginning of March, St. Kate’s was listed as one of the top ten colleges in Minnesota for post-graduation salaries by GradReports. St. Kate’s ranks alongside colleges like the University of Minnesota Twin Cities and the University of St. Thomas, receiving a Salary Score of 71.43 out of a maximum of 100. 

GradReports was formed by Optimal, a company based in researching data in higher education. GradReports uses information from the US Department of Education’s college scorecard system to compare salaries and attempt to give students the best picture possible for what their post-graduation salary might be. The Salary Score, a term used to describe how much alumni make after graduation, is relative to both the degree at a certain college and is meant to help students make the most informed decision. 

“We give each school a Salary Score by comparing alumni starting salaries for each degree program to alumni from the same program across all schools,” Sarah Glass, a representative from GradReports, stated. “We compare the same programs across all qualifying schools in the U.S. and derive our Salary Scores by giving numerical value to the comparative early-salary data.”

GradReports has a history of helping students in higher education make informed decisions.

“Prior to releasing rankings, GradReports was focused on providing alumni reviews,” Glass explained. “We released our first by-program rankings on GradReports in 2020, but this is the first year we are releasing by-level and by-state rankings based on Salary Score.” 

Glass also explained the plan to update the Salary Score yearly as new data emerged to help keep students informed about the data.

“Our goal is to provide the data so that individual prospective and current students can use it in whatever way is most valuable to them,” Glass explained. “The most common use we foresee is prospective students using the Salary Score as a data point in making their decision on which college to attend. While it might not be the only data a prospective student cares about in choosing their college, knowing that typical graduates from one college tend to land high-paying jobs soon after graduation can be an important consideration.”

While this is geared more towards prospective students, Glass can also see the use for current students as well. 

“Once enrolled, students could also use our reports when deciding on a major. If higher salary potential is appealing, students might look for majors with higher scores.”

Glass sees importance in this data when it comes to making potential college decisions, especially with the COVID-19 pandemic drastically affecting higher education. 

“The higher education industry has been radically altered by COVID-19. The economic fallout from the pandemic has only magnified the need for cost-benefit analysis of pursuing a college degree, and it’s all happening under the shadow of an already looming student debt crisis,” Glass added. “Students are concerned with being able to support themselves, and are in need of the data that illustrates how much they can make in their chosen field after graduation.”

While one of the top ten colleges for post-graduation salary, St. Kate’s also ranks high in the national rankings. 

“The average Salary Score is close to 50,” Glass explained, “but any college with a Salary Score above 50 tends to produce graduates that land higher-paying jobs early in their career than is typical. St. Kate's score of 71.43 is well above that 50 median, which means your graduates are typically landing jobs with great pay early in their careers.”
To view the GradReport for St. Kate’s and to learn more about this system, visit the GradReport website here.