William & Mary ranks high in career launches

Kathleen Powell sometimes offers students cookies or ice cream in hopes they’ll become frequent flyers at William & Mary’s Cohen Career Center.

Powell, who relishes her title as the university’s chief career officer, wants students to get comfortable spending time in the building situated in the middle of campus between a popular dining hall and the football stadium. Her office has been known to host programs such as “Cookies and Careers” and “Get the Scoop” to lure students through the center’s door. “Free Coffee Fridays” are also popular, she says, and the recruiting room turns into an open-to-all study space during finals.

“We talk about frequent flyers in our office,” Powell says. “You can come as often as you like, as many times as you need. … I think that’s the secret sauce for us.”

Clearly, it’s part of a recipe that’s working. William & Mary is one of the top 15 colleges in the country for launching a career, according to rankings released in December 2025 by Forbes. The magazine considered multiple factors, including participation in internships, median salaries three years after graduation and post-graduation employment rates. W&M is the only Virginia school that made the list.

At a time when the job market for recent college graduates is generally softening, the historic Williamsburg university is getting a steady flow of calls from companies asking for applicants, notes Powell, who also serves as associate vice president for advancement in the school’s Office of Career Development & Professional Engagement. “The employers are coming back to us and saying, ‘I need another William & Mary student.’”

She and her staff attribute the job placement success to a multipronged approach that includes internships and strong support from alumni across the world. Gaining national recognition for its career development work is nothing new for William & Mary. The Princeton Review last year named it the 6th best public school for internships. Princeton Review also ranked it in the top 20 among public schools for its alumni network and career placement.

Certainly, the emphasis on career development comes from the top at W&M. It’s one of four strategic initiatives named in the university’s “Vision 2026” plan. President Katherine Rowe, Powell says, “is all in on career readiness and supporting our students. We’re helping them not only land their first job, but their third, their fifth. … You can come back anytime and use our services.”

Almost as soon as high school seniors commit to attending the university, the career center reaches out by email to give them information about orientation sessions. During the school year, students get weekly Sunday-night emails from the career center that highlight programs and encourage participation. There is an intentional push to get students involved and thinking ahead.

“Unless they’ve got their head in the sand, they should know who we are, what we’re doing, and how we can support them,” Powell says.

Internships, volunteer positions and research opportunities are key to giving students the real-world experience they need to stand out in the hiring process, Powell says. “You have to build your social capital.”

In recognizing William & Mary, Forbes pointed out that generally more than half of the school’s undergraduate students complete at least one internship or other professional experience before earning a diploma.

Powell’s office has been working to clear any roadblocks that might keep students from getting work experience in a field of interest. While the career center is always looking to place students in internships right away, it became clear that off-campus opportunities were difficult for freshmen because they aren’t allowed to have cars on campus.

“So we’ve turned several campus jobs into internships,” Powell says.

Another roadblock that has been addressed is the financial strain of participating in an unpaid or low-paid internship or research experience, a barrier for many undergraduates.

Funding for Unpaid and Underfunded Student Experiences, aka FUSE, lets students apply for up to $5,000 to cover living expenses, transportation and other needs once they have secured a qualifying work experience. Funded entirely by alumni donations, FUSE started as a way to cover expenses for summer interns, but in 2023 it expanded to include work experiences throughout the year.

The program has been a success, as 103 students used more than $322,000 in FUSE funding in the 2024-25 academic year, nearly twice the number of recipients from the previous year.

Donors include individual alumni and couples, as well as whole alumni classes. Another strength for W&M students seeking work experience is the university’s internship and job database known as TribeCareers. It currently has more than 26,500 interning opportunities around the world, and the database is searchable by location, work type and industry.

Alumni connections

In addition to work experience, networking within the “Tribe” community is a critical component of graduate success, says Alex Beard, associate director of alumni career and professional engagement. He oversees the W&M One Network, an online platform for connecting students and alumni. Every member — and currently, there are more than 12,000 members in 65 countries around the globe — chooses from 16 professional interest areas. Beard says that makes it easier to “find the right person without relying solely on job titles or employer names.” In his mind, “less friction creates more opportunity.”

Once members input their professional interest area, they can tack on key words that provide more information about what they do. “One Network members can layer in more specific terms, such as tax audit, to quickly narrow a broad pool of finance or law professionals and find the right people faster,” Beard explains.

For students, One Network is a way to find alumni working in their chosen field.

“It allows for direct, one-on-one communication,” Beard says. For the university, One Network gives access to an expansive database of potential speakers for campus events and individuals who are well-established in their careers and might be open to mentoring students or having students shadow them on the job.

“I hear from a lot of individuals in our community … that it opens doors,” Beard says.

Emilia Zapata, who graduated in May, can attest to the power of networking with alumni. She went to a university-sponsored career fair in the fall of her junior year where she had conversations with alumni working in various sectors. One of those conversations sparked a connection that later led to a job offer.

“They’re so ready to help you and support you, just through that one connection,” she recalls. Zapata majored in international relations and minored in conservation. Before returning home to Arlington County this spring, she had lined up a three-month summer position working on an international environmental initiative. In addition, she found a permanent job in her area of interest starting in the fall.

“All of my jobs I’ve gotten are through networking,” Zapata says. William & Mary alumni, it seems, stay connected and committed to their alma mater.

“It sounds kind of corny, but it’s true,” she says.

It doesn’t hurt that Zapata took advantage of the career center, becoming a “frequent flyer” as she sought help with creating a LinkedIn profile, refining her résumé and landing internships. By the time she graduated, she had done internships both on and off campus and received $5,000 in FUSE funding to cover expenses while gaining work experience.

Zapata says she plans to give back to the university by mentoring students and offering advice to those who reach out. Someday, she’s hoping to work in the area of sustainability internationally, and she feels confident she’ll continue to make alumni connections even if she lives abroad.

“No matter where we go, we know there’s always someone from William & Mary … to support you,” she says.

AI’s impact on grads

The school’s recognition as a leading institution for launching careers comes at a time when college graduates are facing an increasingly challenging job landscape, at least partially due to the boom of artificial intelligence.

Powell says she isn’t overly concerned. “I am watchful, and I’m taking in all the information,” she says.
To better equip students for this environment, William & Mary added an AI minor last fall. Employers expect job applicants to be able to navigate artificial intelligence in a productive way, Powell says. “They want students who understand AI and can use it to their advantage.”

In April, for the second year in a row, Forbes named William & Mary as one of the 10 public schools in its list of “The New Ivies.” Career readiness, and particularly the academic response to AI, was a focus for developing the list, which was based on qualifying criteria as well as survey responses from executives.

The University of Virginia also made the list. Forbes stated that the 10 public and 10 private schools named as New Ivies are “preparing and graduating the talent that employers will seek in this new era.”
Powell’s office is constantly gathering data to better serve both students and alumni. “You have to collect the dots in order to connect the dots,” she says. To that end, the career center surveys graduates to get a sense of their work plans.

The most recent results available from 2025 show that 92% of respondents were either employed or in graduate school within six months of commencement. Of those employed, 97% were in jobs closely aligned to their career interests.

For Powell, one of the biggest challenges is simply making sure that students stop by the career center early in their college journey so they understand what’s offered there and can take advantage of it. Optimally, that’s within a few months of stepping on campus.

So, it makes sense to offer some cookies or ice cream now and then. “Food is a great motivator for students,” she says.

The more students use the services and resources at the career center, the better their prospects will be upon graduation, Powell says. If she had her way, students in every area of study would dive in early to secure work experiences and connect with alumni to learn more about jobs. They would take advantage of every facet of the career center.

Powell says, “We’re trying to make sure we’re feeding the student in a way that makes them exceptional when they leave William & Mary.”

William & Mary at a glance

• Undergraduate: 6,951
• Graduate: 2,646

• 725 full-time and 190 part-time faculty

• Female: 59%
• Male: 41%
• Minority students: 33%
• International students: 5%
• Virginia residents: 60%

• In-state tuition and fees: $26,456
• Out-of-state tuition and fees: $52,725
• Room and board: $16,601
• Average financial aid awarded to full-time, in-state freshmen seeking assistance: $33,452 (2024-25)