2020 Trends in College Career and Employment Planning

Survey
Jun. 2021
Sample Size: 2,398
Demographics: undergraduate students administrators
Topics: Learning Student Support Career Readiness Educational Pathways

Top Findings:

  • More than one-third (35%) of students who want to advance in their current field enrolled online because of an incentive or partnership available through their employer.
  • A majority of school administrators identified employer demand (72%) and student demand (71%) as the primary factors for developing an online program in a new subject area.
  • Forty-seven percent of business leaders said their organizations have some partnership with schools or vendors to offer online courses or programs to employees.
  • Sixty percent of online students say their current employers think that online learning is "better than" or "equal to" on-campus options.
  • About half (49%) of business leaders from organizations that are actively involved in college recruiting say that online education is "better than" or "equal to" on-campus options.
  • Seventy percent of business leaders agree that the overall quality of online education has increased as a result of changes related to the coronavirus.
  • Half (50%) of business leaders from organizations that actively recruit college students said they recruit students and recent graduates from online programs.
  • Seventy-one percent of those recruiting college students agree that their organizations screen job applicants to identify whether an individual's degree was earned from an online or in-person program.
  • A majority (63%) of business leaders recruiting college students have "slowed" or "halted" college recruiting or hiring practices since the coronavirus outbreak.
  • More than two-thirds (68%) of those recruiting college students or recent graduates agree that their company or organization uses different strategies to recruit from online and in-person programs.