Regardless of what a Puget Sound student majors in—whether it’s business, something in STEM, or theater, history, or English—what kind of an employee do you expect they’ll be?
Loggers are great employees, and they are often exactly the type of employee hiring managers seek for their businesses and organizations. Our graduates step into the world of work—or go on for advanced study—well prepared. They read and write with proficiency; they are active listeners; they have excellent expressive language and presentation skills; and they are critical thinkers who have information literacy and intercultural competence. And perhaps most distinctive of Puget Sound, our students/graduates possess a “Can Do” attitude. Loggers meet the moment with curiosity and determination.
And they have experiences under their collective belts that others might not.
That’s correct. Experiential learning is something we have worked hard to build into our education program. We want all of our students to see, very early on, how they can apply what they are learning in the classroom, in the laboratory, in the theater, in the concert hall, to real-life, real-world challenges and opportunities. We are embedding experiential learning across our curriculum such that every student gets the benefit of these rich learning experiences. We fully believe a Puget Sound education is not something you get; rather, it is something you do—and will pay tremendous dividends over the course of a graduate’s lifetime.
People seem to want to cast this as an either/or situation: Either you get a well-rounded education with exposure to lots of different fields, or you get career preparation. Can’t you have both?
We certainly believe that is what we are doing at the University of Puget Sound. We look to make sure that our graduates are career-ready when they complete their graduate and undergraduate degrees, and that they are prepared to adapt and respond to challenges and opportunities that come their way over the course of their careers and lives. We believe the action-oriented and interdisciplinary-based education we offer instills within our students a deep and broad knowledge base; the ability to be adaptive, creative, and entrepreneurial; and a deep and abiding moral code and emotional intelligence. It’s our view that these abilities, habits of mind, and skills never go out of style—and are highly marketable. A recent report from Payscale bears that out. Our graduates rank third in early-career and mid-career pay—$70,800 and $141,100, respectively—compared to their counterparts at other Washington state colleges and universities.
