News Home

Dakota State University Reports Career Placement Rates for Class of 2003

Madison—Many companies experienced significant layoffs this year, making the terms downsizing and rightsizing common. The sluggish economy created a challenging job market, but it apparently had little effect on the Dakota State University graduating class of 2003 as DSU officials reported an impressive 92% overall career placement success.  Several DSU programs had 100% placement including Business Management, Health Information, Respiratory Care and General Studies.

Dakota State University continues to achieve such high placement rates, reports Dr. Doug Knowlton, DSU President, due to several factors.  “Because of our technology-centered mission, we continue to attract prospective students who are computer savvy.  Dakota State University provides an environment where, whatever their academic discipline, that savvy is turned into skills that will help the student succeed in the work world. Year in and year out, Dakota State University graduates perform well in the field, and that has given our programs a wonderful reputation. Employers want to hire DSU graduates.”

According to Marie Lohsandt, Director of Career Services at DSU, computer science and information systems graduates had the highest salary averages at $34,800 and $34,119 respectively, while education graduates had an average starting salary of $25,147.  The overall average starting salary for the Class of 2003 was $27,395.

Lohsandt says her staff in the placement office is especially proactive in providing opportunities for students to interact with potential employers through internships and other programs and in counseling students on how to best focus their job searches. “Competition for employment can be very intense.  In that environment the technical skills that each DSU graduate has gives them a definite edge,” stated Lohsandt.

Geographically 81% of Dakota State graduates placed in their field chose to remain in South Dakota, which is up from last year (78%).