Survey Shows Almost All SPH Graduates Land Jobs Soon After Graduation

Monday, July 3, 2017

Ninety-five percent of the UW School of Public Health’s job-seeking graduates are employed soon after graduation, according to a survey of 2014-15 alumni.

95% placement of SPH grads

Of the 211 alumni who responded to the survey, 98 percent of those with doctorates, 95 percent of those with MPH degrees and 97 percent of those with bachelor’s degrees landed jobs shortly after defending their dissertations, completing their theses and passing their final exams.

Employment rates were impressive for all SPH degree programs, including:

Many alumni surveyed said the School is a boon for career prospects as well as internship, research and funding opportunities. Alumni also recognized the excellent mentorship and high quality education they received from faculty, “who are among the best researchers in the world,” one respondent noted.

Alumni of the bachelor’s degree programs, including the School's booming Public Health Major, praised the standout advising staff, passionate professors and valuable real-world public health experience through required capstone projects.

Survey results show that most SPH alumni are working in the private sector, with a large portion serving nonprofit organizations. Some alumni have pursued careers with national, state and local government agencies. Others landed research or teaching jobs at the UW or other top academic institutions. Based on the survey, 70 percent of SPH graduates choose to work in Washington state. Of that, 55 percent stay in Seattle.

(See the charts below for a breakdown by department and interdisciplinary program.)

employment location graphic
employment sector graphic
Charts by Elizar Mercado

Popular employers of SPH graduates include Seattle Children’s, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Washington State Department of Health, Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This information is based on LinkedIn’s career insights. To get a better sense of where our graduates are now and how they're serving communities, check out our alumni profiles.

Data on graduate outcomes was collected via an electronic survey of 495 graduates focused on 12 months after graduation. The overall survey response rate was 43 percent.