Enhancing higher education programs through a graduate survey

A graduate survey is a critical tool to track the employment condition of the alumni in any academic program. Remarkably, the employability of the graduates serves as a significant index of program effectiveness of higher education institutions (HEIs). This study described the demographic and employment characteristics of the graduates of Sultan Kudarat State University in the different baccalaureate programs among nine (9) campuses from 2016 to 2018. A descriptive type of research was employed in the study which involved a sample of 1,115 graduates. Results showed that the graduates are highly employable as evidenced by a 90.67 percent employment rate. The majority of them are on casual or temporary status and now working as professionals within the region that are related to their college degrees. They found their first job in at most two (2) years by responding largely to advertisements. Salary and benefits are the main reasons for accepting, staying on, and even in changing their first jobs. Communication and human relation skills emerged as the top competencies learned in college that are regarded as very useful to their job.