Why Post-Graduation Placement Matters

At UNT, our commitment to students' success extends well beyond the moment they cross the stage at graduation. The next opportunity a graduate secures, whether a quality job or enrollment in graduate school, sets the trajectory for their career and long-term economic opportunities. Post-graduation placement refers to the percentage of UNT graduates who, within one to five years, are either working in high-demand occupations or enrolled in graduate or professional programs. Tracking post-graduation placement does more than quantify the value of a UNT degree — it provides concrete evidence that UNT is fulfilling its mission to prepare students for successful careers and lives of purpose and meaning.

Understanding where our graduates go and how they fare in the years following graduation helps us evaluate program effectiveness, strengthen partnerships, and make strategic investments in curriculum, career services, and student supports. As the largest university in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area — one of the fastest-growing economic regions in the nation — UNT is well-positioned to drive workforce development and build Texas’ highly skilled talent pipeline. By demonstrating how UNT produces significant numbers of qualified graduates in fields where companies face talent shortages, we broaden our opportunities for corporate partnerships, student internships, and philanthropic support.

Unpacking the Data: Post-graduation placement outcomes

Post-graduation placement includes two critical pathways: employment in careers aligned with high-demand fields and enrollment in graduate or professional programs. Both represent important outcomes that reflect the value of a UNT education. UNT currently has systems for tracking graduate school enrollment, and we are developing capabilities to monitor more detailed employment outcomes, particularly related to graduates’ placement in high-demand fields.

To track enrollment in graduate or professional programs, UNT submitted records of bachelor’s degree recipients from the 2019-20 through 2024-25 academic years to the National Student Clearinghouse, which returned data on students who enrolled in graduate programs and earned graduate degrees from fall 2019 through summer 2025. This allows UNT to determine how many graduates pursue advanced education and in what fields.

Beyond tracking overall graduate school enrollment, understanding which graduates pursue programs in high-demand fields provides insight into alignment between graduate education pathways and workforce needs. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB) identifies high-demand fields by analyzing occupations with the greatest projected job growth statewide over the next decade, combined with regional workforce needs defined by the Texas Comptroller. By examining enrollment in advanced degree programs aligned with high-demand fields at both the state and regional level, UNT can assess whether our graduates are positioning themselves for careers in sectors with strong employment prospects and if our undergraduate programs prepare students for advanced study in fields critical to Texas’ economy.

Strategic Priorities to Improve Post-Graduation Placement

By strengthening data collection systems, emphasizing career-connected learning, and building purposeful pathways to employment and graduate studies, UNT will gain a more complete understanding of post-graduation placement outcomes and implement the following strategies to enhance them.

  • Strengthen industry and employer partnerships to anticipate workforce needs, align curricula with emerging demands, and create direct pathways from UNT programs to employment in high-demand fields across North Texas and beyond.
  • Expand career-aligned learning opportunities by embedding internships, industry-sponsored projects, and applied research experiences across all programs, ensuring students develop professional skills, build industry connections, and are prepared to add value from day one in the workforce.
  • Enhance integrated academic and career advising by deploying data-driven tools and personalized support that help students connect their studies to career goals, explore pathways to meaningful employment or graduate education, and make informed decisions about their futures.
  • Facilitate purposeful pathways to graduate education through accelerated enrollment programs, opportunities for undergraduates to engage in graduate-level studies, and enhanced faculty mentorship that prepares students for competitive graduate and professional programs at UNT and other institutions. Explore graduate education at UNT.
  • Develop comprehensive employment outcome tracking systems to monitor graduates' career placement, industries, and earnings progression, enabling data-driven improvements to curriculum and career services while demonstrating the economic value of UNT degrees to students, families, and employers.

Methodology Notes

  • UNT bachelor's degree recipients who graduated between the 2019-20 and 2024-25 academic years were submitted to the National Student Clearinghouse (NSC) for tracking.​
  • Each student was tracked for subsequent enrollment beginning directly after their UNT graduation term. ​NSC returned matched students enrolled in US higher education institutions from fall 2019 to summer 2025. ​
  • The NSC file was used to determine the number of students enrolled in a Master's or Doctoral program at UNT or elsewhere each year after their UNT graduation term, aggregated by graduation year.​
  • High-Demand Fields (HDF) for the state of Texas and for the Dallas-Fort Worth area were identified by the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board (THECB; https://www.highered.texas.gov/community-college-finance/high-demand-fields/)
  • Post-Bachelor's enrollment data were merged with the HDF State and Metro lists to identify and count students enrolled in an HDF major after UNT graduation.
  • Percentages of total UNT Bachelor's graduates enrolled in a Master's or Doctoral program at UNT or elsewhere are calculated by dividing the number found in graduate programs by the total number of graduates per academic year.​
  • Percentages of UNT graduates found in high-demand fields are calculated by dividing the number in high-demand fields by the number found in graduate programs, not total graduates