Celebrating the Class of 2023
New graduates look back at their education and share what lies ahead.
Jefferson Students Prepared for Next Career Step
The University’s First Destination Report shows undergraduates achieve a 97% employment and grad school success rate.
The streak continues. For well over a decade, the vast majority of recent alumni—97% for the Class of 2023—are employed, enrolled in graduate school, taking a gap year, or completing military or volunteer service.
Jefferson’s latest First Destination Report surveyed nearly 350 undergraduates in the Kanbar College of Design, Engineering and Commerce, College of Architecture and the Built Environment, College of Health Professions, College of Humanities and Sciences and College of Life Sciences.
The results showcase the University’s professions-driven programs, deep industry connections, alumni support and strong faculty involvement, says Tracy DePedro, director of the Marianne Able Career Services Center, which conducts the annual survey.
“Everyone is mindful of that end goal and helping students to be successful,” she says.
Landscape architecture grad Leonard Bustos works at Simone Collins Landscape Architecture.
Mechanical engineering grads Sean O’Hara and Axell Bailon thank professors like Dr. Brian George, director of the engineering programs, for getting them in the door at Systems Protection–a Tenneco Company in Exton, Pa.
“Many of our coworkers have come out of Jefferson,” says O’Hara, an applications engineer for the supplier of protective sleeving and shielding for wires, hoses and mechanical assemblies. “The name Brian George resonates in our building, from people starting their careers like us to global directors of departments.”
Bailon, a product development engineer, says his courses gave him the tools, knowledge and confidence to excel at his job, from designing products to fixing the occasional machine glitch.
O’Hara also uses the skills he learned at Jefferson daily. For example, he cites the “Design for Manufacturability” engineering course, which guides students from the initial idea to full production.
“That has been extremely important in my job,” says O’Hara, who’s returning to Jefferson for his MBA. “We’re constantly coming up with new ideas or renditions of products. Although they may solve the problem, if they don’t make financial sense or aren’t feasible for the plant, then it’s not possible.”
Everyone is mindful of that end goal and helping students to be successful. –Tracy DePedro, Marianne Able Career Services Center Director
Both Bailon and O’Hara interned at Systems Protection before being hired full-time, a common theme among Jefferson grads, DePedro says.
The Class of 2023 took part in 145 internships for credit during the last school year, representing 30 majors, she says. In addition, the Career Services Center reviewed 710 résumés, held dozens of presentations, workshops and webinars, and conducted over 700 counseling and advising appointments.
In addition, roughly 500 students attended the 2022 Fall Career Day and 2023 Design Expo, which drew over 200 employers combined.
Class of 2023 landscape architecture grad Leonard Bustos advises current students to take advantage of all the University resources and connections. A firm tour and an alumni introduction helped him land a job as a landscape architect at Simone Collins Landscape Architecture in Norristown, Pa.
Finance grad Skylar Glass will attend Villanova’s Charles Widger School of Law this fall.
While at Jefferson, he engaged with area stakeholders to activate a concrete schoolyard in Southwest Philadelphia by adding play spaces, improving parking and providing stormwater management. These types of community-based projects prepared him for his current work on a King of Prussia, Pa.-area multimodal—pedestrian, bike and vehicular—connectivity master plan.
“We’re proposing improved sidewalks, bike lanes with a buffer between cyclists and drivers and shared lane markings, and improved connectivity to and throughout the site through proposed multiuse trails and sidewalks for nearby workers and residents,” Bustos says. “I work with communities to help the environment and the people within those environments.”
Jefferson’s emphasis on real-world learning benefited finance graduate Skylar Glass as well. Through the dialogue and debate in her small law and society classes and internship at Philly’s VSCP Law, Glass discovered a love for social justice, civil rights and First Amendment issues.
The junior and senior class president decided to pivot from a career in finance to one in law after these positive experiences. Thanks to Jefferson faculty’s support and guidance, she will attend Villanova’s Charles Widger School of Law this fall.
“Business is a degree that’s helpful no matter what you end up doing,” Glass says.
