Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Independent Student Newspaper Since 1969

The Badger Herald

Advertisements
Advertisements

Employment rates, salaries for Madison College graduates fall

A Madison area college published a report boasting an increased number of graduates and level of satisfaction with education, but with a lower percentage of graduates employed and lower average salaries overall.

Madison College’s annual Graduate Employment Report reveals the ups and downs of different statistics related to graduation rate, employment and salary throughout a three-year time period.

The results for 2010 show a slow decline in percentage of graduates employed, decreasing from 92.7 percent in 2008 to 89.3 percent in 2009 and finally 87.3 percent in 2010.

Advertisements

Average salaries also demonstrated a downward trend. Average full-time hourly pay rates have dropped by $0.69 in the past two years, moving from $15.56 an hour in 2008 to $14.87 an hour in 2010.

Despite these trends, the report shows an increase of almost 600 total graduates from 2009 figures. Additionally, 96.2 percent of graduates surveyed said they were either satisfied or very satisfied with the education they had received at Madison College.

Vice President for Student Development Keith Cornille said the report was useful to help Madison College see where improvement is needed and how employers are receiving new graduates.

He added this improvement is at odds with language in Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal, which puts a cap on tax levies used to fund Madison College.

“You have to get a look at the picture with regard to how we’ve funded and are funding sources,” Cornille said. “The hard cap on that tax levy and authority is really limiting the place where we collect the largest portion of our funds to run the college.”

Cornille said reductions in funding could result in larger class sizes and limited enrollment, which is something he said was not traditionally done by a technical college like Madison College.

He added technical colleges respond to the needs of the community, which meant reacting to the boom in demand for education and job training following the recent economic downturn.

Although tax revenue funding is limited, Madison College is moving forward with a project for the construction of the new Allied Health Center, a facility to integrate studies in different health professions and help raise the job retention percentage rate for college graduates.

Cornille said while looking at future jobs for graduates, health fields show a need for cross-training in different health areas instead of just one field of study.

The building would allow Madison College to bring all health programs together to share resources and update technology while also allowing for training in multiple fields.

In order to fund the project, Madison College is borrowing $41.5 million to be paid back over 20 years, Michele Wiberg, a representative from PMA Securities Inc., Madison College’s financial advising firm, said in an email to The Badger Herald.

Wiberg said the 20-year period is appropriate for paying back a loan of this size and type, and investors continue to express interest in Madison College. She added the interest rate of the loan was lower than originally anticipated.

“The interest rate is 4.01 percent,” Wiberg said. “In our most recent preliminary planning scenarios for the college, we were estimating 4.50 percent, so we are pleased, as is the college, with the results.”

Advertisements
Leave a Comment
Donate to The Badger Herald

Your donation will support the student journalists of University of Wisconsin-Madison. Your contribution will allow us to purchase equipment and cover our annual website hosting costs.

More to Discover
Donate to The Badger Herald

Comments (0)

All The Badger Herald Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *