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Methodology
How Does the Gallup Alumni Survey Work?
Methodology

How Does the Gallup Alumni Survey Work?

Measures U.S. College Graduates' Success in Their Pursuit of Great Jobs and Great Lives

What is the Gallup Alumni Survey?

The Gallup Alumni Survey (formerly the Gallup-Purdue Index) is the first measure to evaluate the long-term success of graduates in their pursuit of great jobs and great lives, as measured by the Gallup Employee Engagement Index and Gallup-Sharecare Well-Being Index, respectively. The Gallup Alumni Survey provides higher education leaders with productive insights that will help them make meaningful performance improvements.

How are interviews conducted for the Gallup Alumni Survey?

Gallup conducts the Gallup Alumni Survey interviews via the web. According to a 2013 Census Bureau report, 90% of U.S. college graduates have access to the Internet. With this in mind, Gallup selects U.S. adults with a college education to participate in the Gallup Alumni Survey through its nationally representative studies of all U.S. adults including the Gallup Panel, U.S. Gallup Poll and Strada-Gallup Education Consumer Survey.

How many people are interviewed in the Gallup Alumni Survey?

The Gallup Alumni Survey has included interviews with more than 90,000 American adults possessing a bachelor's degree or higher level of education and approximately 1,500 American adults with an associate degree.

How often is the Gallup Alumni Survey conducted?

Gallup began conducting the national Gallup Alumni Survey in 2014 and has administered it in 2015, 2016, 2018, and 2019.

Additionally, individual postsecondary institutions are working with Gallup to survey their own alumni using the Gallup Alumni Survey to compare the jobs and lives of their alumni to this national benchmark. Gallup will conduct these separate alumni-specific surveys on an ongoing basis.

Are Gallup Alumni Survey samples weighted?

Yes, Gallup weights the national Gallup Alumni Survey samples to match the U.S. population according to gender, age, race, Hispanic ethnicity, education and region. Demographic weighting targets are based on the most recent Current Population Survey figures for those aged 18 and older possessing an associate degree for the associate degree sample and those possessing a bachelor's degree or higher level of education for the bachelor's degree or higher sample. All reported margins of sampling error include computed design effects for weighting. Gallup does not weight sample data for alumni-specific studies conducted on behalf of individual postsecondary institutions.

Where can I find results from the Gallup Alumni Survey and learn more about the survey?

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If you are a college or university leader who would like to learn more about Gallup's work with institutions of higher education, please contact education@gallup.com. For questions about how this survey is conducted, please contact galluphelp@gallup.com.


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