9 in 10 college seniors say their courses are relevant to future careers

Most college seniors (93%) believe what they are learning is "relevant to their career paths," though students in professional fields such as business and engineering had slightly more confidence than those in the arts and sciences, according to a recent survey by the Center for Postsecondary Research at Indiana University's School of Education. The survey polled more than 275,000 first-years and seniors across 476 colleges.Nearly half (47%) of seniors said their college experience contributed "very much" to their critical and analytical thinking abilities. Those with education or health majors indicated larger perceived gains in work-related abilities than average, and those with engineering and social service majors saw above-average perceived gains in their ability to tackle complex real-world problems.Although students who discuss their future careers with professionals and advisors are more likely to indicate confidence in their post-graduation plans, only about half (53%) of those indicating they completed career preparation items used their college's career services sources "at least sometimes" during their senior year to talk about careers. Similarly, 49% said they attended a career fair and 60% said they either shadowed or interviewed a professional.The high confidence seniors reported in their education's relevance to their career plans contrasts several other recent surveys on how well college is preparing graduates for the workforce.