USA Today highlights St. Olaf’s career center programs
A story in USA Today highlights St. Olaf College’s commitment to helping students discern their vocation — what they are called to do — and then translate that calling into a career.
The story, titled “Colleges ramp up career guidance for students,” notes the investment St. Olaf has made in a variety of programs aimed at helping students leverage their liberal arts education.
“St. Olaf’s career center now offers a searchable database that shows where young alumni — so far the classes of 2011 and 2012 — landed after graduating. It’s one of several new initiatives, including student trips over school breaks to network with alumni in major cities, a workshop for freshmen, and a sophomore retreat on campus,” USA Today reporter Mary Beth Marklein writes.
She notes that St. Olaf’s Piper Center for Vocation and Career started a new program this year to reach out to first-year students before they even arrived on campus. The goal of the program is to get students thinking about their vocation from the moment they step on campus and to have the Piper Center become an integral part of their time at St. Olaf.
National publications ranging from the Wall Street Journal to the Hechinger Report, among others, have highlighted St. Olaf’s efforts to clearly outline the value of a college education.
“The economic factor, very frankly, tilts a lot of people’s attention to the reality that, while there are many intangible benefits of a liberal arts education, there also have to be tangible ones,” St. Olaf President David R. Anderson ’74 tells USA Today.