UVM Graduates Report High Satisfaction Rates Despite Tight Job Market

Burlington, Vt. The University of Vermont reports that 93.6% of its Class of 2025 undergraduate graduates were employed or continuing their education within six months of finishing their degrees. The university’s Career Center rounds this figure up to 95% for public display, a number that includes part-time workers, military service members, and participants in volunteer programs. Alongside this employment rate, the university states that 95% of full-time employed graduates are satisfied with their current positions.

These local statistics contrast with national data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. That report indicates recent college graduates currently face an unemployment rate of 5.7%, a trend that has persisted since 2018. The underemployment rate for this group stands at 42%, meaning a large share of graduates work fewer hours than they prefer or hold jobs where their skills are underutilized. UVM’s success rate does not account for this underemployment figure.

Recent UVM alumni describe a job market that feels more difficult than the university’s high-level metrics suggest. Will Cengic, a biology graduate from the College of Arts and Sciences in May 2026, spent the summer interning with the Reef Environmental Education Foundation in the Florida Keys. He traveled from Massachusetts for the role, which came with a $400 monthly stipend and covered housing. The internship focused on conservation lessons for school-aged children during the summer camp season.

Cengic noted that the competition for such roles was intense. He learned that only four of 250 applicants were hired for the four intern positions available. "It’s just really competitive. There are a lot of people, a lot of young people like myself who are now getting thrown into the job market, and it’s a little scary," Cengic said. As the summer internship ended, he returned to the job market in the fall, applying for ten to fifteen positions in marine biology. "I didn’t really get anything. Pretty much everything I heard back was ‘we received a record number of applicants,’” he added.

Ari D’Arconte, who earned a bachelor’s degree in zoology in May 2026, experienced a similar struggle. He began his job search in October of his senior year, a process that lasted seven months before he secured a full-time research assistant position with Northeastern University in collaboration with UVM. During that period, D’Arconte submitted more than 120 applications and emails. Only eight of those led to interviews, and just four resulted in job offers. "I feel like I got lucky in getting this role," D’Arconte said, citing the general difficulty of the market for environmental science and biology careers.

Federal funding changes have further complicated the landscape for students in the sciences and humanities. An October article from Harvard Business School reports that the percentage of early-career scientists likely to remain in academia dropped 22% to 44% following funding cuts in early 2025. Similarly, the likelihood of these scientists staying in the United States fell by 21%, and their satisfaction with pursuing doctoral degrees dropped by 16%.

William Gregory, a graduate student in Caribbean and Latin American history, noted that funding cuts have directly affected his program. "The biggest way that it’s impacted us, at least, is that either we or the class after us is the last one that has guaranteed paid TA positions as part of their tuition or scholarship," Gregory said. He is in his final year of graduate school and plans to enter a doctoral program after graduation.

The data shows a clear divergence between institutional outcomes and the individual experience of securing stable, well-paid work. While UVM graduates report high satisfaction rates, many are navigating a market where underemployment is common and federal support for scientific and academic careers has decreased.