Expand the section navigation mobile menu

Career Pathways

Master's Career Pathways: Exit Survey Project

Congratulations on nearing the completion of your degree! We are grateful you trusted us to provide your educational needs and are very proud to see you graduating. We hope that you will help us better serve future students by participating in a very important exit survey that is being conducted as part of a national research study.

The Graduate School at Oakland University was selected to partner with the National Science Foundation (NSF) and the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) to participate in the Master’s Career Pathways: Exit Survey Project. Graduate School dean, Brandy Randall, is the Principal Investigator for this research study.

The purpose of the study is to help inform a national effort to better understand the role of master’s education in workforce development, to better understand what factors motivate people to pursue a master’s degree, and to inform graduate master’s program improvement at Oakland. The data collected from this survey will not only inform us on how we can better assist future students to meet their educational and career goals, but also help graduate school administrators across the country do the same.

Students graduating with a master’s degree are being asked to participate in the study which consists of a 15 minute online survey. Students can drop out of the study at any time. Students presently residing in the European Union are excluded from participating in the study, as are students under the age of 18 years.

We would be very grateful if you would complete the exit survey. All data collected from the survey will be deidentified and aggregated before it is provided to any internal or external stakeholders, so you can be assured your responses will remain confidential. 

If you have any questions regarding the Master’s Career Pathways project or survey please contact us at [email protected], or call the Graduate School at (248) 370-2700.

Thank you in advance for your support of this project.

Frequently asked questions
  1. I have already filled out a survey for my program. Is this the same survey? 

    Some programs conduct exit surveys, but the scope and purpose is different from the campus-wide exit survey. We really appreciate your feedback on the Career Pathway Exit survey as it will help enhance master's education at Oakland AND will inform the national picture on the role of master's education in workforce development. 

  2. How is this survey different from the First Destination Survey? 

    Though these surveys sound similar, they are very different. Both are very brief, and your response to each of these two surveys is important for Oakland University. The more responses Oakland receives for each of these surveys, the better able we are to understand our students' journeys. 

  3. My graduation has been postponed to a later semester. Should I still take the survey now? 

    No, we will conduct the survey every semester. We do update our survey list regularly, however, if you are continuing to receive emails or phone calls about the survey, please email us at [email protected] to let us know. 

  4. How will I receive the link to the survey? 

    The link will be sent to your Oakland email address. If you don't see it, please check your spam folder. 

  5. Do I have to complete the survey all at once? 

    No, you can start it and finish later, but you need to do so before the survey closing date. 

Graduate School

O'Dowd Hall, Room 520
586 Pioneer Drive
Rochester, MI 48309-4482
(location map)
(248) 370-2700


Office Hours:
Monday - Friday 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
✎