Student Success

DePauw U Guarantees Every Graduate Will Find a Job

• By Rhea Kelly
• 03/14/18

DePauw University is so confident of the value of its liberal arts education that it has guaranteed a successful outcome — employment or graduate school acceptance within six months of graduation — for 100 percent of its students. That pledge, dubbed the DePauw Gold Commitment, will begin in fall of 2018 with the class of 2022; already, about 95 percent of DePauw's graduates find success after college, according to the university.

To hold up their end of the deal, students "will be expected to begin preparing for life after college in their first semester, participate fully in all the opportunities available to them, graduate within four years, and conduct themselves as good citizens during their college experience," the university said in a news announcement. As they complete their academic requirements, they will also create a portfolio of experiential learning such as work-study appointments, internships (both on and off campus) and fellowships. Advisers will help students select their curricular and co-curricular opportunities, ensuring that all students achieve hands-on work skills during their time at the university.

Upon graduation, if students do not secure a first job or graduate school acceptance within the allotted time frame, "DePauw and its employer partners, many of whom are successful alumni, will provide them with a professional entry-level position lasting at least six months," the university explained. Or, the graduates can return to DePauw for one tuition-free semester, "to further hone skills and experience."

"It's important for DePauw families to know that a truly immersive, residential, undergraduate-focused liberal arts education, with small class sizes and intense personal attention from faculty mentors, is worth it. It unquestionably prepares intelligent, inquisitive citizens of the world who can apply their knowledge to any discipline," said DePauw President Mark McCoy in a statement. "Our graduates have been amazingly successful for nearly 200 years. Our alumni know that this education leads to a consequential and considered life. We want students and families to know that if you commit to DePauw, DePauw commits to you."