Careers Initiative Updates
The updates below reflect progress made toward the goals for this initiative.
Fall 2024
"Applied Learning for All" is our vision for access to work-based learning that is compensated, credited and coached. Long a leader in undergraduate research, William & Mary is now recognized as a top 10 public university for internships; internship opportunities saw an impressive 86% increase in support from 2023-24. William & Mary's One Network connects alumni on a global scale. Nearly 7,600 members have joined to date, for career and industry networking. Join One Network.
Spring 2023
W&M continues to prove that a rigorous, broad-based education is the best preparation for a rapidly changing career. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that W&M is the #5 public university for finance salaries, #9 for management consulting salaries, #11 for law salaries and #16 for tech salaries. The Princeton Review ranked W&M the nation's top public university for internships for the third year running. Building on this distinctive strength, two $1M commitments for internships and student research will infuse applied learning experiences throughout W&M undergraduate majors.
Fall 2022
An academic course (carrying credit) will establish a university-wide internship program at scale. Our ambition is to ensure that every undergraduate department integrates applied learning (research, study abroad and internships) into their major by 2026. We are thrilled by the response of alumni to support this initiative. Under the leadership of W&M's first Chief Careers Officer, new platforms will support robust career engagement with our graduates — from their first job to their fifth and beyond — and advance experiential learning and credentialing aligned with talent pathways.
Spring 2022
Since February 2022, we have been creating an early academic credit-bearing internship course. This is the start of establishing an enterprise-wide internship (experiential learning) program at scale. We are also capturing via a survey, applied learning and first destination outcomes for the Class of 2022. New data from the survey will allow for focused analysis for underrepresented and marginalized groups.
In fall 2022, the university will be piloting a program that trains faculty to help advise and mentor students in their educational and career pursuits. We are in the process of creating platforms that will ensure robust career engagement with our graduates and support experiential learning, constituent engagement and credentialing aligned with talent pathways. Additionally, we are establishing a one-stop W&M website for students and hiring organizations, calling in all those at W&M who support internships and applied learning.
W&M has been nurturing and developing key partnerships that will enable the university to support paid internships in high-need areas such as teaching, data analytics, small business development, among other areas. For example, we have been participating in the SCHEV Collaborative Internship Attainment Grant-757 Regional Internship Collaborative with peer institutions in the commonwealth, Public K-12 Schools and Workforce Councils, bringing together more than 30 partnering organizations. We are also partnering with Chamber RVA, The Virginia Talent + Opportunity Partnership through SCHEV, Virginia Bio, STEM2VA, and working with the Virginia Association of Colleges and Employers.
