Graduates of the Institute’s Master of Science in Analytics (MSA) continue to lead the University in terms of average earnings (at graduation) for the third consecutive year data has been collected. According the the University’s Office of Institutional Strategy and Analytics, MSA Class of ’20 graduates earned an average starting salary of $102,135, which was 22% higher than the average for all 533 master’s degree candidates graduating in May 2020. (The May 2020 results were only just published after a long delay caused by the pandemic.) The strength of the result is made all the more clear by the comparative response rates to the survey. The Institute’s average is based on 96% of its graduates reporting, whereas the university’s response rate overall was 68%.
The Class of ’20 placement season was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic and the pivot to remote learning in late March, in the final month before graduation. By graduation, 79% of MSA ’20 candidates secured employment. The number rose to 95% by 90-days post-graduation.
N.B.: The Institute for Advanced Analytics operates as an independent academic unit within the University. Comparisons at the department-level are not provided here due to small sample sizes and/or low response rates within individual departments. The minimum response rate and sample size requirement needed to make a valid comparison at the college-level is also a limitation the FPS data.
A small discrepancy between the FPS data and the Institute’s own data reported in the Annual Employment Report stems from the timing of the surveys. The Institute’s data collection closes on May 15th of each year. The Institute has published an employment report each year since its inaugural graduating class in 2008. The reports are a full and detailed census of employment outcomes for our students.