The institution is confident that its new ‘Cranberry Investment’ strategy will provide students with career paths.
Rider University’s Office of Career Development and Success reports that 90% of its undergraduate students are either “employed, in graduate school or volunteering” within a year after having graduated.
It unveiled a new plan promising to make those outcomes even stronger.
The Lawrenceville, N.J., university said any undergraduate students starting with the Class of 2022 who complete their degree paths will be guaranteed an entry-level job in their field within six months of graduating or be accepted into graduate or professional school under a new initiative called the Cranberry Investment.
There are a number of caveats that go with this type of Investment – as scores of other higher education institutions have noted in their own similar plans over the past decade. For example, at Rider, if students aren’t placed within six months, the university will offer career coaching, a potential six-month paid internship or as much as nine credits for further coursework provided they can maintain a 3.0 GPA.
So, is this just another gimmick to get students in the doors and remain at the school?