Braven, a national nonprofit that helps Rutgers-Newark students land strong jobs after graduation, announced that fellows in its program last year had higher rates of job attainment compared with other students in the U.S.
Of 216 students who graduated from the program in 2021, 69 percent found what the organization defines as good jobs within six months of graduation – 24 percent higher than the average rate for college students.
Braven defines a strong job as a full-time role that requires a bachelor’s degree and includes some combination of promotion pathways, employee benefits, and a market-competitive starting salary, or enrollment in graduate school.
Rutgers-Newark is one of four universities in metropolitan areas nationwide with which Braven has partnered to empower first-generation college students, students from low-income backgrounds, and students of color with the skills, confidence, experiences, and networks necessary to transition from college to strong first jobs, which lead to meaningful careers and lives of impact.
Participants in Braven programs work with Rutgers-Newark employer partners, like Audible, Panasonic and Prudential, enrolling in credit-bearing classes and post-course experience that helps them gain job experience, learn how to present themselves in the workplace and build networks.
The organization works with many students who are the first in their families to attend college, helping them achieve upward mobility. Of Braven Newark 2021 graduates, 92% identify as people of color, 69% come from a low-income background, and 57% are first-generation college students.
“These students, along with their families, deserve a more just America in every way. As we work towards an equitable recovery, we have an opportunity to build fundamentally better systems that will allow all our nation’s talented young people a chance at the American promise,’’ according to the report.
Other Braven statistics show that, although the college-persistence at four-year schools dropped to 84.6, an eight-year low, Braven’s success rate at Rutgers-Newark was a 96 percent.
Braven Rutgers University-Newark 2021 graduates were 16 percentage points -- 69 percent versus 53 percent -- more likely to have at least one internship during their college experience.
