Following the 2019 Commencement ceremony of Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) last week, we look at the data behind our new graduates, to see what they are going to do next.

As of the end of June 2019, 733 of the 800 new graduates from SUSTech have either been accepted into postgraduate studies or taken a full time job. Of that group, nearly 60% have opted for further studies and over 30% have taken a job.

152 of 465 graduates who have opted for further studies that are continuing in academic are heading directly into doctoral studies, with more than 100 graduates entering the top 50 universities in the world.

Graduates heading abroad represent 245 independent applications and 26 affiliated applications, totally 291 applications in total. 104 of successful applicants to foreign universities were to top 50 universities and research institutions around the world, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Europe, Canada, Australia, Japan, Singapore and Hong Kong. Some of the institutions students are heading to include Stanford University, Johns Hopkins University, Columbia University (USA), University College London (UK) and the University of Toronto (Canada).

For those that are choosing to stay in mainland China, 141 students are commencing doctoral and postgraduate studies. They will be entering top universities across mainland China such as Tsinghua University, Peking University, Zhejiang University and the University of Science and Technology China, while some outstanding graduates have chosen to stay at SUSTech to continue their undergraduate research projects.

265 graduates have taken full-time jobs, mostly in the Greater Bay Area, while three students have started their own businesses. 4 in 5 graduates that have entered the workforce have remained in Shenzhen and are employed by renowned local and international enterprises in a wide range of fields, like Tencent, Huawei, Baidu, BYD and China Merchants Bank.

A small number of graduates have been fortunate enough to acquire employment overseas, with Xie Yi managing to land a position with Google in Munich. Others are participating in social welfare programs before continuing onto other projects.