What BU’s First Destination Survey measures
BU’s Center for Career Development describes the First Destination Survey (FDS) as an annual look at undergraduate alumni’s initial destination within six months after graduation. The survey includes bachelor’s degree recipients from Summer II, Fall and Spring terms, with the class year based on the Spring term. BU says data follow National Association of Colleges and Employers standards and may include employment, salary and continuing education information. The 2025 report covers the Class of 2025 and says the university gathered information on 3,846 of 4,951 undergraduate degree recipients, a 78% knowledge rate. Data collection ran from September 2024 through December 2025 and included web surveys, LinkedIn research and external sources such as the National Student Clearinghouse. This is a campus-wide aggregate, not a census of every individual outcome. The 78% figure tells you the share with known information; it does not mean 78% found employment. Read each outcome with its own denominator and category definition.
Class of 2025 destination categories
For the 3,846 degree recipients with destination information, BU’s 2025 FDS report reports 61% in full-time employment, 25% in graduate or professional school, 7% in military service, volunteer service or part-time work, 1% not seeking employment or continuing education, and 5% still seeking. These categories give a broad picture of the first recorded destination, not a measure of long-term career progress or job quality. The percentages are rounded and therefore need not sum exactly to 100%. The survey does not isolate international students, visa status, school, major, location or salary by industry in this public summary. It also does not mean that the remaining degree recipients had negative outcomes; their status was not known in the survey. Use the reported categories as a cohort snapshot and compare with other universities only when class year, coverage rate and definitions align. If you need a decision for a specific BU programme, ask the department or CCD whether disaggregated data can be provided.
Salary is reported for a smaller subset
BU’s 2025 report reports an unweighted mean starting salary of $74,956 for 580 respondents in the Class of 2025 survey. The salary sample is substantially smaller than the 3,846 respondents with destination data. The mean is not a median or a salary guarantee, and it should not be attributed to every school or major. A small set of high salaries can affect an arithmetic mean; the public page does not provide a salary distribution or programme-level breakdown. Use occupation, geography, degree level and current job-market information to estimate a likely range for your own target role. Compare like with like: city, sector, experience and year. The figure is also not a measure of take-home pay or affordability in Boston or another city. For school-specific or programme-specific outcomes, BU’s CCD methodology page says to submit a formal data request and notes that some requests may not be answerable. Do not substitute a university-wide average for a course placement package or international graduate salary.
Internship and experiential-learning participation
The same BU report includes data for a different subset of 918 degree recipients on internship participation. Within that group, 87% reported at least one experiential-learning experience before graduating; BU’s list includes apprenticeship, co-op, externship, internship, paid learning experience, practicum and research. Separately, 72% of this respondent group reported at least one internship. These figures do not share the 3,846 denominator used for destination categories, and they do not prove that every student completes a placement. They indicate that many survey respondents reported practical experience, while the method and subset must remain visible. Ask your school whether a specific major requires a co-op or practicum, how placements are found, and whether the experience is paid or eligible for academic credit. International students should verify work authorisation with ISSO before beginning off-campus training. A reported internship rate is not a substitute for understanding the workload, selection process, timing and eligibility of a particular placement.
Timing, reporting and comparisons
BU’s methodology page says data collection for each class continues beyond graduation and ends after graduates have had time to report their status. Its methodology page explains that reports are validated and prepared after collection closes and that the class year is based on Spring graduation, while the cycle can include Summer II and Fall graduates. This matters when comparing FDS editions: the publication year may be later than the graduating class, and the cohort is not necessarily a single calendar-year graduating group. The 2025 report’s data collection dates are a reporting window, not the employment window; the survey measures the initial destination within six months of graduation. BU shares the results in aggregate rather than at individually identifiable level. A school-level request may require a formal submission and may not be fulfilled. Check whether another institution reports the same cohort period, knowledge rate, employment categories and survey window before comparing percentages. Ranking a university using unmatched surveys would give false precision.
How applicants should use the figures
These outcomes can help you ask better questions, but they cannot predict an individual result. Start with the major’s curriculum and career pathways; then ask about career coaching, employer access, internships, research, licensure and alumni mentoring relevant to that field. Compare the FDS destination shares with the known-response rate and the survey’s six-month window. Treat salary separately because only 580 respondents reported a mean and the source gives no programme-specific distribution. For an international student, add the practical timeline for CPT, OPT or other work permission; an employment outcome does not establish immigration eligibility. If a career depends on a licence, graduate degree or geographic mobility, verify those requirements independently. BU’s CCD can answer questions about the survey method and whether a data request is possible. Use the 2025 report as dated institutional evidence, not a promise of future placement, and recheck later editions when they become available.