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Gallup Alumni Survey

Measuring College and University Outcomes

The ultimate measure of an institution's success is whether its alumni succeed in work and life. The Gallup Alumni Survey explores graduates' perceptions of their college experience and their attachment to their college or university after graduation.

Great jobs. Great lives.
Colleges and universities are struggling with increased demands from students, parents, taxpayers and legislators. These stakeholders demand assurances that institutions are providing students with experiences that prepare them to find good jobs and fulfilling lives after graduation.

Much like businesses have come to rely on third-party accounting firms to audit their financial health, college and university presidents and boards have come to rely on Gallup -- the world's most trusted research organization -- to measure the vital outcomes that affect the lives of their graduates.

Most measures of graduates' success focus on graduates' household or personal income. Gallup goes beyond these baseline measures, assessing graduates' employment, professions, workplace engagement and well-being, and then connecting these outcomes with key student experiences to help institutions create a rigorous process for continuous improvement.

50% of all alumni "strongly agree" their university education was worth the cost.

College graduates are almost 2X more likely to be engaged at work if they had a mentor who encouraged them to pursue their goals and dreams.

Graduates are 1.4 times more likely to be thriving in five key elements of well-being if a professor cared about them as a person.

Measurement that helps institutions create a rigorous process for continuous improvement.

The ultimate measure of an institution's success is whether its alumni succeed in work and life. Measuring and reporting outcomes are becoming expected responsibilities of colleges and universities to ensure they are living up to the ideals embodied in their mission statements.

The Gallup Alumni Survey, formerly known as the Gallup-Purdue Index, enables institutions to understand:

  • whether alumni are engaged in their work
  • whether alumni are thriving in key aspects of their well-being
  • how alumni rate their undergraduate experiences and their attachment to their college or university following graduation

Gallup provides custom analytics and reporting to colleges and universities, including alumni in-depth qualitative interviews, with the unique ability to benchmark against a nationally representative study of 95,000 college graduates: the Gallup Alumni Survey. Institutions can compare their graduates against select cohorts, such as Carnegie Classifications, athletic divisions or other institutions in their state.

Individual institutions hire Gallup to measure their alumni and compare them with national and peer cohorts from the Gallup Alumni Survey national study. The following reports have been publicly released.

The Busch School of Business at The Catholic University of America Alumni Report

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Purdue University Alumni Report

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University of Virginia Alumni Report

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Western Governors University Alumni Report

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Robert Morris University Alumni Report

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Virginia Tech Alumni Report

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University of New Hampshire Alumni Report

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The Ohio State University Alumni Report

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University of Pittsburgh Alumni Report

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St. Michael's College Alumni Report

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Lindenwood University Alumni Report

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Temple University Alumni Report

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Walden University Alumni Report

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University of Tennessee at Martin Alumni Report

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James Madison University Alumni Report

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Goucher College Alumni Report

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2018 Strada-Gallup Alumni Survey: Mentoring College Students to Success (Formerly GPI)

This survey explores college mentoring relationships, as well as whether graduates received career-related advice during college and the helpfulness of the guidance they received.

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Year 3 Report: Great Jobs. Great Lives.

The Gallup-Purdue Index Report 2016 explores the value of career services, inclusive experiences and mentorship for college graduates.

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Year 2 Report: Great Jobs. Great Lives.

The Gallup-Purdue Index Report 2015 explores the relationship between student debt, experience and perceptions of college worth.

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Gallup-Purdue Index Inaugural National Report

This report -- based on interviews with more than 30,000 graduates -- measures the degree to which graduates have successful and engaging careers and if they are thriving in their overall well-being.

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Improve Student Outcomes

Learn more about how your institution can provide students with experiences that prepare them to find good jobs and lead fulfilling lives.

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