Alumni Report High Satisfaction

Each year, Bethel surveys Graduate School alumni who graduated one year prior, five years prior, and ten years prior. Questions cover graduates’ experiences at Bethel as well as their spiritual and working lives since gradua­tion. This year’s results show that recent Bethel Graduate School alumni are experiencing high job satisfaction and low unemployment.

Graduates from the classes of 2013 and 2009 report a 2% unemployment rate and 2004 grads report a 0% rate. The average job satisfaction rate is 92% for the three groups, higher than the national average of 89%. When it comes to how their Bethel education prepared them for their current position, the majority of responders say they are satisfied or very satisfied.

These Bethel graduates also say they have a committed spiritual life, as 85% of the one-year grads, 89% of the five-year grads, and 68% of the 10-year grads indicate they’re involved in a faith community. They’re also more involved in volunteerism than the national average. While 50% of Americans report that they volunteer their time to a religious group or organization, 84% of Bethel’s one-year, 70% of five-year, and 72% of ten-year grads say they do. Their answers to questions about donating money were similar.

The majority of answers to the open-ended questions, “What did you like best about your academic program at Bethel?” and “What other comments do you have about your Bethel experience?” mention caring faculty and small, supportive cohorts.

Here’s a few of those responses:

“I like how I never felt abandoned. There was always a connection with Bethel even though I am on the other side of the planet! You can’t say that about many programs.”
“The cohort and instructors were supportive, enlightening, and caring. They engaged in my personal growth and my growth as an educational leader. This was my fifth degree and the only one that I felt my professors cared about the work that I did in and out of class.”

“My cohort, the passion of the instructors, the faith-based instruction, and convenient class times for working adults.”

“During a troubled time in my life, I was able to find God involved in my education and He was in the people I had around me in my program.”