MSOE’s recent graduates are enjoying an even higher placement rate and average starting salary than in previous years. According to MSOE’s Career Services Department, 97 percent of the university’s 2015-16 graduates are currently employed in their fields of study or enrolled in graduate school. Their average starting salary has increased to $60,146 from $56,991 last year.

“Employers continually remark on our students’ ability to hit the ground running and begin contributing on day one,” said Dr. John Y. Walz, MSOE president.

A total of 253 companies hired these graduates and the top employers (those hiring four or more) were Aurora Health Care, Aurora St. Luke’s Medical Center, Direct Supply, Froedtert and the Medical College of Wisconsin, GE Healthcare, J.W. Speaker, Johnson Controls, Milwaukee Tool, Mortenson Construction, ProShip Inc., Rockwell Automation, Snap-on Tools, U.S. Navy and Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare (now Ascension).

In an average of the past four years, 58 percent of MSOE full-time undergraduate students came from Wisconsin—and 75.9 percent of the class of 2015-16 has remained in the state.

“MSOE graduates are helping Wisconsin’s brain gain,” said Walz. “Students are gaining real-world experience in our laboratories thanks to our faculty, who bring years of industry practice into the curriculum.”

Students and graduates continue to be in demand. In September, 242 employers attended MSOE’s annual career fair, making it the largest ever; and 32 employers have conducted on-campus interviews this school year so far. Dozens more are scheduled to visit campus on recruiting missions in the coming weeks and months.