A SIPA degree leads to a promising future COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog

A SIPA degree leads to a promising future COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY - SIPA Admissions Blog Its Graduation Week at Columbia University, and we couldnt be more excited for SIPAs Class of 2015! This Thursday, May 21, 2015, our students will graduate from SIPA and will  become a part of  our 20,000+ outstanding SIPA alumni. And Im pleased to say that theyll be  in some pretty impressive company. SIPAs alumni call more than 150 countries home. Some notable members of this global group include  Salim Ahmed Salim, Prime Minister of Tanzania, Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity, President of the United Nations General Assembly;  David Kay, Chief UN weapons inspector and head of Iraq Survey Group;  Judy Cheng-Hopkins, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacebuilding Support of the United Nations;  Bill de Blasio, Mayor of New York City;  Steven Fulop, Mayor of Jersey City, New Jersey;  Eric Garcetti, Mayor of Los Angeles;  Claire Shipman, ABC News correspondent;  Katie Stanton, head of international strategy, Twitter;  Alexander Vershbow, Deputy Secretary General of NATO and former Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security Affairs; and  Peter Zalmayev, human rights activist and Director of the Eurasia Democracy Initiative. While these 10 alumni represent a fraction of the career paths our Seeple take, they all have something in common:  they went on to serve the common good  and have found successful careers doing so. To illustrate how our recent graduates do in the job-hunting department,  I created a  few  charts  using data from the Office of Career Services. (For a larger view, just click on the image.)  While we dont have the Class of 2015s data just yet, I thought looking back at what the Class of 2014 accomplished early on would be nice. #gallery-1 { clear: both; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item-wrapper { float: left; margin: 0; padding: 0; width: 50%; } #ie6 #gallery-1 .gallery-item-wrapper, #ie7 #gallery-1 .gallery-item-wrapper { width: 50%; } #gallery-1 .gallery-item { display: block; float: none; margin: 5px; width: auto !important; } #ie6 #gallery-1 .gallery-item { display: inline; } #gallery-1 .gallery-icon a { display: block; line-height: 0; } #gallery-1 img { width: 100% !important; max-width: 100% !important; height: auto !important; } #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { overflow: hidden; } #ie6 #gallery-1 .gallery-caption { word-wrap: break-word; } General Statistics of MIA Students After Graduation. Data source: SIPA Office of Career Services, 2014. General Statistics of MPA Students After Graduation. Data source: SIPA Office of Career Services, 2014. Employment Sectors of MIA/MPA Students After Graduation. Data source: SIPA Office of Career Services, 2014. Median Salary of MIA/MPA Students After Graduation. Data source: SIPA Office of Career Services, 2014. As you can see, our Seeple do pretty well right out of the gate. In 2014, more than 88  percent of our MIA and MPA students were  employed (or seeking further study) upon graduation. They are working  everywhere, from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York to the United Nations Childrens Fund and  National Alliance on Mental Illness. (For a look at career paths by concentration, go here for MIA and here for MPA.) Clearly, theres no doubt in my mind that the Class of 2015 will go on to do some amazing things themselves. (Im excited to see what their futures will look like!) P.S. Want a glimpse at your possible future? Watch the SIPA commencement livestream here  on Thursday at 3:15 p.m. EST.