WITC graduates making financial gains in Wisconsin

According to the college’s recently completed Five-Year Longitudinal Follow-Up Study, the average yearly salary for graduates increased from nearly $29,000 to more than $43,000.

(1/18/12): The growth in earnings by Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College graduates has increased 50 percent since their graduation from WITC in 2006. According to the college’s recently completed Five-Year Longitudinal Follow-Up Study, the average yearly salary for graduates increased from nearly $29,000 to more than $43,000. The change in the Consumer Price Index was 10.9 percent for the same period.

“WITC is incredibly proud of its Five-Year Longitudinal Follow-Up Study results,” WITC President Bob Meyer said. “With these extremely positive career placement results, it is not surprising that our graduates also confidently state that their WITC training is both valuable and vital to their career development.”

In the survey, 89 percent agreed their technical college education played an important role at the start of their career and 79 percent said their training was very important or important in their career advancement. Fifty-six percent surveyed have received at least one job promotion since graduating from WITC. Also, 73 percent are employed in Wisconsin with 57 percent working in WITC’s 11-county district.

To align education with business and industry, technical colleges use advisory committees made up of business and industry representatives to provide input on their most critical employment needs. The Longitudinal Study evaluates the success of employees and their respective education.

“The results of this study are helpful to future and current students in assisting them in making career choices; helping instructors determine the effectiveness of their teaching and administration in discovering the need for possible revisions in various program curricula,” WITC Research and Planning Coordinator Jennifer Kunselman said. “The results validate that a technical college education, specifically from WITC, is worth the investment in time and expense because their education not only assists them in getting a job, but in advancing in their careers for many years post-graduation.”

The WITC Longitudinal Follow-Up Study, which looks at changes in employment five years after graduation, also found that 93 percent of its graduates are employed and that 85 percent are employed in a career that is related to their WITC training.

A total of 573 of 1,608 graduates completed the survey for a 36 percent response rate. For more information, visit WITC’s Five-Year Longitudinal Follow-Up Study Summary.

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WITC graduates making financial gains in Wisconsin