Fewer Students Plan Grad Study

Fewer Harvard alumni are planning to attend graduate school, while more are travelling overseas and doing community service, according to an Office of Career Services (OCS) report released last week.

The study, which this May surveyed 1527 members of the Class of 87 about their post-graduate plans and undergraduate experience, found that one-fifth of the seniors are planning no further graduate studies. At the same time, more than half of the senior class had done public service work during college and more than half had travelled abroad or planned to do so immediately after graduation.

The number of students not going to graduate school has steadily grown from 3 percent of the senior class in 1983 to 20 percent of the Class of '87.

Martha P. Leape, OCS Director, said the increase was caused by students who opt not to pursue graduate degrees if their careers do not require further training.

"It's certainly been a trend in the last three or four years," Leape said. "I think it relates to career choice. Students go into fields such as the arts, or media, which don't require graduate credentials."

While fewer students continue their studies, 55.7 percent of students surveyed said they had spent time overseas during college or planned to do so in the immediate future.

"I think the studies for many years now have shown that more students are considering foreign experience as part of their liberal arts education," Leape said.

Carole L. Bundy, OCS study abroad advisor, said the number of students studying abroad has been boosted by an easing of the rules governing course credit they can receive.

"There was new faculty legislation in 1982, opening the possibility of all kinds of credit you can get while spending time abroad," Bundy said. "Before that, a student who went abroad could only receive concentration or independent study credit."

The study found that 57.5 percent of the senior class had participated in public service during their undergraduate years, one third more than the number five years ago.

Sean A. MacDonald '88, president of Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA), the undergraduate service organization, attributed the growing number of public service workers to a surge in national support for public service and to PBHA's expansion.

"There's been an increased interest and we try to keep up with it by providing new programs," said MacDonald. "The University, especially President Bok and Dean [L. Fred] Jewett '57, have been emphasizing service. They've been helpful in increasing our resources."