Where do New York Alumni Work? Finance Draws 21% of Grads
New data highlights the industries, employers, and jobs behind New York's top colleges for alumni salary
Last Updated: November 18, 2021
Written by: Usmann Farooqui
Research and Analysis by: Taylor Nichols
Key Takeaways:
- Graduates of top New York colleges are heavily concentrated in finance and business, with 21% working in the finance and insurance sector
- Google is the largest single employer, hiring over 6% of alumni
- Nearly 20% of graduates work in professional, technical, and scientific services, with Ernst & Young as the largest single employer for alumni in the industry
- Adelphi goes against the trend of other NY colleges with over 36% of grads working in healthcare
New York features a wide variety of strong colleges for alumni salary, but earnings aren't the only factor to take into account. Many students also want to know what job opportunities a degree might offer when choosing a school.
To dig deeper into career outcomes for New York graduates, we looked at the most popular industries, job titles, and employers behind the top 10 colleges in New York by Salary Score.
Our list below includes schools whose alumni command high salaries in their fields of study when compared to colleges nationally. We used employment data from Burning Glass Technologies for 60,988 graduates of these colleges to find out where they work and what they do after finishing their degrees.
Methodology
Our list of schools includes the top New York colleges by Salary Score, which highlights which colleges produce top earning alumni in their fields. We calculated Salary Score by comparing median annual salaries for each undergraduate major at New York colleges to the median annual salaries for the same major at universities nationwide. Our Salary Score guide gives a full overview of this process
Our employment data was sourced from Burning Glass Technologies, which parses thousands of resumes, social media profiles, and job listings to offer insights on the current labor market. Data pertains to the graduating classes of 2015 through 2020, and excludes alumni who found work at their universities upon graduating. Additional data was obtained on LinkedIn. Data collection occurred in August and September 2021.
Most Popular Industries, Employers, and Occupations for the Top Colleges in New York
The top 10 colleges for Salary Score in New York are all private universities. Unsurprisingly, Ivy League schools Columbia University and Cornell University both made the list.
Given that New York City is the banking capital of the world, it's no surprise that financial and insurance services was the most popular industry for these alumni, with over a fifth finding employment in this sector. Nearly 19% work in professional, scientific, and technical services, an industry that includes consulting, legal aid, accounting, and other services a company might outsource.
GradReports' findings are consistent with wider economic trends in New York, where finance, healthcare, and professional and business services are among the main industries driving the state's economy.
Although finance is the top sector, Google is the largest employer for graduates, accounting for 6.2% of alumni. At 5.2%, financial group JP Morgan Chase is a close second. In general, employers for graduates of our ranked list are a mix of technology, financial, and consulting firms. Some notable companies in these sectors include Amazon, Goldman Sachs, and Ernst & Young.
Around 6% of alumni found jobs as software developers, making this the most common occupation for graduates.
Employment Outcomes by College
Barnard College
Salary Score™: 96.41
Barnard, a private women's liberal arts school, is the top college in New York for alumni salary by major, eclipsing both Cornell and Columbia. Barnard alumnae go into education more than any other industry, with nearly 30% of graduates working in higher education or K-12 schools. Columbia University is Barnard's largest single employer, hiring 11% of students.
Barnard alumnae also work in business-related sectors. Professional services account for 16% of graduates, and another 14% work in finance. Popular industry employers include Accenture and JP Morgan Chase.
Computer science and economics majors at Barnard are highly paid for their field of study, with a Salary Score of 98-100. Common occupations for alumnae include business analysts and researchers or research associates.
Colgate University
Salary Score™: 94.44
The second best New York school for Salary Score is Colgate University, also ahead of both Ivy Leagues on this list.
Almost half of Colgate alumni work in finance or professional services. A large proportion of graduates find jobs with Ernst & Young. Financial institutions BofA Securities (formerly Bank of America Merrill Lynch) and BlackRock each hired close to 4% of alumni.
The most common occupations for alumni are in business and management analysis followed by software development. While the university has a strong economics program with a Salary Score of 98, computer science majors from Colgate tend to earn less than those from other universities with a Salary Score of 40.
Columbia University
Salary Score™: 94.23
New York City's Columbia University ranks third for salary by major. With a Salary Score between 98-100 for many majors, Columbia alumni tend to be highly paid for their fields of study.
Just under 9% of Columbia graduates work as software developers, and with a Salary Score of 98, the university is a top school for computer science major earnings.
Over a quarter of alumni work in finance and insurance, with Goldman Sachs Group employing the largest share of Columbia graduates in the industry. Many are also hired in the tech sector — particularly with companies such as Google, Facebook, and Amazon, which collectively employ 17% of alumni.
Cornell University
Salary Score™: 92.70
At 20.8%, over a fifth of Cornell alumni work in professional, scientific, and technical services, followed by 19.7% in the finance and insurance sector.
Nearly 12% of alumni go on to become software engineers. With a Salary Score of 99-100, Cornell's computer science and information science majors are well-paid in their field of study.
Tech companies are by far the largest employers of Cornell alumni. Google, Amazon, Facebook, and Microsoft collectively hired over a quarter of graduates. Deloitte is also a major employer.
New York University
Salary Score™: 89.05
Continuing the trend set by other schools on this list, graduates of NYU are most often employed in the financial sector. However, other popular industries include professional services and education.
Many NYU graduates find work as software developers and engineers. However, with a Salary Score of 55 in computer engineering and 93 in computer and information sciences, earning potential for alumni in this field can vary significantly.
NYU alumni are employed by tech companies such as Amazon and Google, and at 5.5%, JP Morgan Chase is the largest single employer. Notably, like only Barnard on this list, many graduates also find employment as freelancers.
Hamilton College
Salary Score™: 88.61
Hamilton alumni earn more than their peers in fields such as mathematics, economics, and research-related majors.
Nearly a quarter of graduates work in finance and insurance, with Goldman Sachs and Citi both listed as top employers. Another 20% work in education, with close to 3% of alumni finding work at Columbia University.
With an employment rate of 100% and a Salary Score of 95, computer and information sciences is one of Hamilton's strongest programs. As a result, and like other schools on this list, software developer is a top five occupation for graduates.
Other popular occupations for graduates are focused in business, with over 5% of alumni working as management analysts. Project management and financial analytics are also common job titles.
Adelphi University
Salary Score™: 87.10
Adelphi University is unique among the colleges on this list in that its graduates are overwhelmingly employed in healthcare services. Not only is registered nurse the top occupation for alumni, but the five largest employers are healthcare providers, hiring 36% of alumni altogether. With an employment rate of 99% and a Salary Score of 99, Adelphi nursing majors are both highly employable and well-paid for their field.
Adelphi's strong nursing program is, however, somewhat of an outlier. Alumni who major in other disciplines, such as computer science or business management, don't earn high salaries compared to those from the same majors at other colleges.
An exception is the accounting program with a Salary Score of 89. However, just 1.4% of alumni become accountants.
Marist College
Salary Score™: 86.89
With an overall Salary Score of 86.89, Marist College offers a wide variety of highly ranked majors when it comes to employment and earnings. Accounting and related services, specialized sales and marketing, and business administration are a few of its strongest majors for alumni earnings.
Perhaps reflecting this, professional services and finance are among the top five industries where Marist alumni work. Popular occupations include account executives and managers, marketing specialists, and software engineers.
Computer manufacturing and information technology giant IBM is the top employer for Marist graduates, hiring just over 12% of alumni.
Hobart and William Smith Colleges
Salary Score™: 86.89
Similar to other schools on this list, graduates of Hobart and William Smith Colleges are primarily employed in the financial services and insurance industry. Fidelity and Chubb are top employers in this sector, together employing nearly 7% of graduates.
Alumni go on to become sales representatives, account managers, business analysts, or project managers more than any other occupation. Real estate group Bozzuto is the college's largest employer, hiring 7.5% of alumni. Another 6.4% went onto work for information provider and business consulting company IHS Markit.
Fordham University
Salary Score™: 84.99
Fordham alumni are also heavily concentrated in finance and insurance, with over a quarter working in this industry. Top occupations are very business-focused, with management analysts, financial analysts, and marketing specialists all appearing on the list.
Financial group JP Morgan Chase is Fordham's single largest employer, hiring 7.5% of graduates. Nearly a quarter (23.6%) of alumni went onto work for a Big Four accounting firm. An additional 21.5% work in professional services, including consulting and other business services.
These employment trends align with Fordham's strong accounting and related services major, which has a Salary Score and employment rate of 100 and 100% respectively. The university's finance and financial management services majors also earn top salaries, with a Salary Score of 99 and employment rate of 97%.