Perhaps the biggest question asked by today’s prospective students (and their families) before investing in a college education is: “What happens after graduation?”
The University of California (UC) recently set out to answer that question in a new way. With more than 2.6 million alumni across the nation, and 84,000 new graduates entering the workforce this year, UC wanted to bring transparency to how its graduates build careers, contribute to California’s economy, and achieve upward mobility.
Connecting Education to Employment Outcomes
To meet this need, UC partnered with Lightcast to gather 25 years of program-specific alumni career outcomes data, including each graduate’s employer, job title, estimated wage, and even the skills they report using on the job.
With this rich data in hand, UC built and launched a public-facing, interactive dashboard that allows users to explore outcomes by campus, graduation year, and field of study – offering a detailed, dynamic view of alumni career pathways, and illustrating the broad range of opportunities available to UC grads.
The dashboard includes a map showing where UC grads are living and working across the state of California, along with estimated earnings data based on their location, occupation, and work experience.
Prospective and current students can use these visuals to explore which employers, jobs, and cities are tied to the highest earning potential, as well as identify “hot spots” where the UC alumni network is especially robust.
A “Skills Demand” tab, also powered by Lightcast data, shows how hiring demand for both soft skills and technical skills has changed over time in the state of California. Users can filter the data by education level or job role to explore trends in greater detail. Paired with alumni career insights, this view helps illustrate how the skills UC graduates bring into the workforce align with the capabilities employers are actively seeking.
Demonstrating Value and Amplifying Success
The data confirms what UC leaders have long observed: a UC degree is a powerful driver of opportunity.
To help get the word out, UC published a press release and shared the new dashboard on LinkedIn. In another LinkedIn post, they tagged a number of their alumni’s “top employers” (including marquee names like Apple, Boeing, and Cisco) to further amplify the news.
The university’s news team also wrote a feature story that highlights some of the human stories behind the data. For example, they shared how alumni like Veronica Sandoval (UC Berkeley → Genentech) and Elizabeth Cieszko (UC San Diego → NBCUniversal) credit their college experience with shaping their professional paths.
Combined with the data dashboard, these stories powerfully illustrate how a degree from UC can lead to fulfilling career pathways, and connect graduates to a network of accomplished alumni working in exciting industries.
The dashboard has even garnered attention from major media outlets, like the San Francisco Chronicle, which featured UC’s alumni data in a recent article complete with its own searchable database – illustrating the broad public interest in alumni career outcomes.
Why It Matters: Accountability and Impact
For UC, this project is about more than numbers. It’s about accountability and impact. Students can make informed decisions, policymakers can see returns on public investment, and employers can better understand the role UC plays in talent development.
It’s also an example of how alumni outcomes data can help institutions tell their story in a way that resonates with today’s audiences by tying academic programs directly to career and economic impact.
Learn More and Take the Next Step
The UC alumni career pathways dashboard – powered by Lightcast Alumni Pathways data – shows what’s possible when alumni data is connected, accessible, and actionable. If you’re ready to track and activate your institution's alumni career success, contact us today.
