Dedicated students, distinguished colleagues and dear friends,

Happy Friday!

Hundreds of household-name companies came to campus this week and took away our best! To be exact, a record 440 employers conducted thousands of in-person and many virtual interviews with our students, and soon our graduating seniors will face a final decision as students and their first professional decision as alumni: which offer will I accept?

For 76 years in a row, starting in 1946 when Professor Rex Williams first invited “vast numbers of potential employers to campus to interview MSM graduating seniors,” our Career Fair has attracted a wide range of potential employers to campus in a win-win-win process. This week, employers such as Boeing, Honeywell, ExxonMobil, Microsoft, Amazon, Air Force, Army, Navy, Ford, GM, Garmin, Emerson, L’Oréal, Sandia National Laboratories, Nucor, Whiting-Turner and many others interviewed our students for 18,600-plus current jobs, internships and co-ops.

The average starting salary of our recent graduates is $72,600, according to financial technology firm SmartAsset, and that’s something to write home about. Even so, it is not uncommon for our students to get job offers of $100,000 or more. Over the past two years, our students received top salary offers of $140,000 with an S&T bachelor’s degree and $154,000 with an S&T master’s degree. No wonder The Princeton Review ranks S&T third among U.S. public universities for career placement. A key to that success is our career opportunities and employer relations (COER) team, which puts a wealth of resources at our students’ fingertips. In addition to workshops, career advising and resume reviews, our COER staff offers students a professional portrait for their LinkedIn profile, access to professional clothing through our Career Closet and guidance from alumni mentors via the Miner Network.

While the event has evolved over the years, so has its scope. Career planning no longer begins in the senior year of college. As early as their first semester at S&T, we encourage students to attend our fairs and network with employers. The result can be a domino effect: a student secures an internship, which translates into experience for landing the next internship, then a co-op and then full-time employment after graduation. 

Not only do our graduates land jobs, but they land well-paying jobs. We are the top university in Missouri for alumni salary potential, according to Payscale. With starting salaries well above the national average, a low average student debt of $29,005 and low tuition of $9,266 for in-state students, S&T is routinely ranked as one of the nation’s best universities for return on investment.

I often hear from employers about how happy they are with their S&T hires. They comment about their readiness, passion and level of discretionary energy, and how they wish more Rolla graduates were available to fill the slots at their company. In fact, year after year, COER surveys employers on their level of satisfaction with our students and graduates; they report 100% employer satisfaction!

To our students, I say thank you for believing in yourself, for trusting us with your future, for exceeding expectations and for meeting your potential. To our faculty and staff, I say thank you for your hard work to prepare enlightened, productive graduates who are ready to meet the needs of our economy and society. To our recruiting companies, I say thank you for breaking all records and for taking away our best.

Whichever side of the booth you found yourself on this week – whether you were a hiring manager or were searching for your dream career – I wish you great success!

Warmly,

-Mo.

Share your thoughts!

Check out the latest news from S&T:

• S&T launches Solving for Tomorrow need-based scholarship
• Researcher wins NSF grant to combat pollution
• Pulitzer Prize-winning poet Rita Dove to speak at S&T

Mohammad Dehghani, PhD
Chancellor
mo@mst.edu | 573-341-4116

206 Parker Hall, 300 West 13th Street, Rolla, MO 65409-0910
chancellor.mst.edu