System-Level Accountability Scorecard
Assessments: Progress toward Implementing the Strategic Plan

Community Development & Economic Vitality
Indicator 11: Economic Development - College and university expertise contributes to the state's economic development.

Measure 11A: Graduate Related Employment Rate

Measure 11A reports system graduates’ employment rate during the year after graduation in occupations that they report were related to their program or major. The numerator is the number of graduates that reported related employment. The denominator is the number of graduates in related employment plus those seeking related employment (click here for a printer friendly PDF copy of this page).

Significance: Measure 11A is signficant in that it indicates the extent to which college and university instructional programs are providing graduates with the knowledge and skills that employers are seeking. This measure is complementary to Measure 11B, Graduate Continued Education Rate, which indicates the proportion of graduates that continued their education.

Measure: The related employment rate for system graduates in Fiscal Year 2003 was 86.3 percent, as shown in Figure 11A-1. This rate is down from a high of 91.1 percent for Fiscal Year 2000 graduates and at its lowest point during the period from 1998 to 2003.

Context: The annual change in the related employment rate tends to exceed the change in the Minnesota unadjusted employment rate, as shown in Figure 11A-2. When rates are increasing, the related rate increases faster than the Minnesota rate. When rates are decreasing, the related rate also decreases faster than the Minnesota rate.

Drill-Downs: Related employment rates for Fiscal Year 2003 graduates were highest at graduate and diploma levels, as shown in Figure 11A-3.