february 16, 2000

1999 completer survey
records best results ever

Results of the 1999 LCC Completer Survey are now out, indicating the College is performing exceptionally well in providing and develop workforce training.

Lethbridge Community College’s Counselling Services Chair Doug Patching presented the Board of Governors the results and findings of the 1999 LCC Completer’s Survey which shows a 75 percent employment rate among those learners who graduated in 1998-99. Another 19 percent of the graduates are pursuing further education.

“This is the highest employment rate we have ever recorded in the 20 years that the College has compiled completer information and the results can only be viewed as phenomenal,” said Patching.

Only six percent of the 1,067 graduates from the “Class of 1999” surveyed indicated they were unemployed, which Patching notes mirrors the provincial rate.

“We can certainly read from this that our graduates are receiving the knowledge, skills and training valued in today’s work environment, and that our institutional commitment to work force development is translating into successful job placement for our graduates.”

The 1999 statistics also show that of those who are employed, 70 percent believe their jobs are directly or generally related to the career training they received as students at Lethbridge Community College.

The interviewers involved in the 1999 Completer Survey began with a list of last year’s 1,341 completers and graduates from LCC credit programs and succeeded in contacting 79 percent of them. This is up considerably from the 67 percent successfully surveyed in 1998.

Highlights of the 1999 LCC Completer Survey include:

• Highest employment rate ever recorded with 75 percent of completers finding employment in their field of study and a further 19 percent pursuing further education. The 1998 survey results showed 71 percent employed and 18 percent taking further education.
  
• Only 6 percent of those surveyed indicated they were unemployed, compared to 11 percent in 1998.
  
• The average age of LCC students dropped to 26.5 years of age, showing an emerging trend towards a younger demograhic at the College. In 1997 and 1998, the average age was 28 years.
  
• Of those students who indicated they are pursuing further education (19 percent or 411 completers), two thirds are enrolled in college programs and one third are at university.
  
• 57 percent of those surveyed were female compared to 43 percent male. In 1998 the gender ratio was 55 percent female and 45 percent male.
  
• Salaries for employed graduates are only slightly higher than a year ago. The average full-time permanent salary is $1,965 per month. Those who are self-employed indicated average monthly earnings of $2,002.
  

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For more information contact: Doug Patching, LCC Counselling Services, 320-3418.

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