Career & Life Ready Graduates
Student Engagement
94% of students utilized career or recruiting-related resources, programs, or coaching.
Source: Student Activity via Handshake
Future-Ready Graduates
93% reported confidence in their career readiness to secure employment and succeed in their career.
Source: 2025 First Destinations Survey
#25 Wake Forest University
LinkedIn’s Top Colleges list ranks the 50 U.S. schools that best prepare graduates for long-term career success.
First Destinations Outcomes
Track Record of Success
The Wake Forest Advantage is clearly reflected in our First Destinations Outcomes. Our graduates consistently achieve remarkable success.
Locations
- New York 33.2%
- North Carolina 18.0%
- District of Columbia 5.5%
- Massachusetts 5.5%
- Georgia 4.0%
- Florida 3.3%
- Illinois 2.9%
- New Jersey 2.4%
- Texas 2.4%
- Virginia 2.4%
- Maryland 1.9%
- California 1.7%
- Tennessee 1.7%
- Colorado 1.4%
- Ohio 1.2%
- Other States 7.9%
- New York City Metro 30.4%
- Charlotte 9.5%
- Raleigh-Durham 4.1%
- Atlanta 4.0%
- Washington DC Metro 3.6%
- Boston 3.3%
- Chicago 2.8%
- Triad (Winston-Salem, Greensboro, High Point) 2.6%
- San Francisco Bay 1.6%
- Philadelphia Metro 1.2%
- South Florida 1.2%
- Dallas-Fort Worth 1.0%
- Denver 1.0%
- Los Angeles Metro 1.0%
- Nashville 1.0%
- Other Metro Areas 29.7%
Class of 2025 First Destinations Data
Within 6 months of graduation, the Office of Personal and Career Development gathered data on 83.8% of the graduating class. Information was collected via student surveys, LinkedIn profiles, and insights shared by academic departments and career coaches.
95.6%
Post Graduation Outcomes
63.9%
Employed
31.6%
Graduate/Professional School
Employed
63.9% of the Class of 2025
Top Employers
- Accenture
- AllianceBernstein
- AlphaSights
- Atrium Health
- Bank of America
Barclays - Berkeley Research Group
- BlackRock
- BNP Paribas
- Citi
- Deloitte
- Epic
- EY
- Fidelity Investments
- General Mills
- Goldman Sachs
- Houlihan Lokey
- JP Morgan Chase & Co.
- L’Oreal
- Microsoft
- Millennium Management
- PNC
- PwC
- RBC Capital Markets
- Teach for America
- The Bank of New York Mellon
- Truist
- United States Senate
- Wake Forest University
- Wells Fargo
Functions
- Finance/Financial Services 33.6%
- Operations/Production/Supply Chain 9.2%
- Consulting 5.4%
- Analytics/Data Analytics 5.1%
- Marketing/Sales 3.7%
- Information Technology 3.1%
- Education 3.1%
- Real Estate/Construction 3.1%
- Healthcare 2.4%
- All Other Functions 31.5%
The remaining 31.5% is comprised of other functions, including Professional Sports (2.4%), Accounting (2.4%), Marketing/Advertising/PR (1.7%), and Manufacturing (1.7%).
Industries
- Investment Banking – 12.1%
- Healthcare – 9.5%
- Investment/Portfolio Mgt. – 7.9%
- Management Consulting – 6.1%
- Internet & Software – 6.0%
- Advertising, PR & Mkt. – 4.8%
- Comm. Banking & Credit – 4.8%
- Higher Education – 4.5%
- Sports & Leisure – 3.9%
- Other Industries – 40.4%
The remaining 40.4% is comprised of other industries, including Legal & Law Enforcement (3.1%), Real Estate (3.1%), Accounting (2.9%), Insurance (2.2%), and K-12 Education (2.0%).
Graduate & Professional School
31.6% of the Class of 2025
The following categories show a sample of graduate & professional school destinations over the past five years.
Arts & Sciences
30.7% of Graduate & Professional School Destinations
- Boston University, Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
- Columbia University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
- Duke University, Graduate School
- Georgia Institute of Technology, Graduate Education
- Harvard University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
- New York University, Graduate School of Arts and Science
- Princeton University, Graduate School
- University of California, Berkeley, Graduate Division
- Wake Forest University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
- Yale University, Graduate School of Arts and Sciences
Business Related
35.8% of Graduate & Professional School Destinations
- Carnegie Mellon University, Tepper School of Business
- Columbia University, Columbia Business School
- Cornell University, Samuel Curtis Johnson Graduate School of Management
- Emory University, Goizueta Business School
- Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business
- New York University, Leonard N. Stern School of Business
- University of Michigan, Stephen M. Ross School of Business
- University of Southern California, Marshall School of Business
- Vanderbilt University, Owen Graduate School of Management
- Wake Forest University, School of Business
Law
15.5% of Graduate & Professional School Destinations
- Boston College, Boston College Law School
- Duke University, Duke University School of Law
- Georgetown University, Georgetown University Law Center
- University of California, Berkeley, School of Law
- University of Virginia, School of Law
- Vanderbilt University, Vanderbilt University Law School
- Villanova University, Charles Widger School of Law
- Wake Forest University, School of Law
- Washington and Lee University, School of Law
- Yeshiva University, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law
Medicine/Health
13.5% of Graduate & Professional School Destinations
- Columbia University, Vagelos College of Physicians and Surgeons
- Cornell University, Weill Cornell Medicine
- Duke University, Duke University School of Medicine
- Emory University, Emory University School of Medicine
- Johns Hopkins University, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
- New York University, NYU Grossman School of Medicine
- University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, UNC School of Medicine
- University of Texas Southwestern, UT Southwestern Medical School
- Wake Forest University, Wake Forest University School of Medicine
- Yale University, Yale School of Medicine
Other Graduate
4.4% of Graduate & Professional School Destinations
- Columbia University – Global Thought
- Columbia University School of the Arts – MFA in Film
- Georgetown University Graduate School – International Migration Refugees
- Georgetown University Walsh School of Foreign Service – Latin American Studies
- Harvard Divinity School – Divinity
- Ross University School of Veterinary Medicine – Veterinary Medicine
- Savannah College of Art and Design – Acting
- University of Missouri-Columbia – Veterinary Medicine
- University of Pennsylvania School of Veterinary Medicine – Veterinary Medicine
- Wake Forest University School of Divinity – Divinity
Awards & Recognition
| Award | Organization | Year |
|---|---|---|
| #25 Career Success | 2025 | |
| ACSN Excellence & Innovation Award | Alumni Career Services Network (ACSN) | 2024 |
| Handshake Career Spark Award | Handshake | 2023 |
| NACE Career Services Excellence Award | NACE (National Association of Colleges and Employers) | 2022 |
| NACE Mentor of the Year Award | NACE | 2022 |
| SoACE Spirit of Innovation Award | SoACE | 2021 |
| NCDA Exemplary Career Center Award | National Career Development Association (NCDA) | 2020 |
| NACE Diversity & Inclusion Excellence Award | NACE | 2020 |
| NACE Career Services Champion Award | NACE | 2018 |