University of Phoenix led the list of universities with the most graduates working in the top 20 … [+]
A new analysis of more than 150,000 LinkedIn The pages reveal which universities have the most graduates employed by the top 20 Fortune 500 companies in the United States. The study – with Title Corporate Recruiting: Most Wanted Colleges and Degrees from Fortune 500 Companies – was conducted for Degree Options, a website that offers advice to students about their college and career decisions.
See how the study was done. The authors reviewed more than 150,000 LinkedIn profiles of current employees in various leadership roles in the top 20 Fortune 500 companies (from 2021) to determine their educational background. They then recorded the universities they attended and the degrees those individuals earned.
It's important to remember that not all employees at these companies have LinkedIn profiles, so the numbers below are not definitive. They are likely to underestimate the number of graduates from a particular institution. Furthermore, different companies have very different percentages of employees who maintain such profiles. For example, while 94% of JPMorgan Chase's 250,000+ employees had a LinkedIn page, only 23% of Walmart's more than two million employees had one.
The top 20 universities with graduates in Fortune 500 companies
- University of Phoenix had 15,924 alumni working at these companies, which include Walmart, Amazon, Apple, CVS Health, Microsoft, Verizon and AT&T.
- University of Washington, 14,264 graduates
- University of Bombay, 5,801
- Georgia Institute of Technology5,292
- Stanford University4,639
- University of California, Berkeley, 4.302
- University of Southern California, 4.213
- University of Texas, 3,938
- Arizona State University, 3,820
- Cornell University, 3,680
- Pennsylvania State University, 3.214
- Strayer University, 3,025
- University of Arkansas, 2,845
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2,692
- San Jose State University, 2,661
- Northeastern University, 2.302
- University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2.251
- Harvard University, 2,220
- Purdue University, 2,195
- University of Pennsylvania (Wharton School), 2,022
Unsurprisingly, many elite research universities such as Stanford, MIT and Harvard are included. But public universities are also doing very well. 10 make the list. The ranking includes other surprises. It includes two private, for-profit universities – the University of Phoenix and Strayer University, as well as one international university – the University of Mumbai. Two universities that might not have been predicted to make the top 20 — the University of Arkansas and San Jose State University — may have benefited from their proximity to Fortune 500 companies.
The data can be looked at in another way – which particular companies hire the most graduates of a particular university. Take, for example, the first five institutions above. Which companies hired the most graduates from each?
In the University of Phoenix, The top Fortune 500 employers were:
- AT&T – 2,705
- Walmart – 2,232
- Amazon, 2,213
- Verizon Communications, 2,212
- Unitedhealth Group, 2,212
For University of Washingtonmost recruitments were in:
- Microsoft – 7,187
- Amazon – 5,716
- Apple – 660
- AT&T – 472
- Costco Wholesale – 229
The University of Bombay had three of the top 20 Fortune companies hire its graduates:
- JPMorgan Chase – 2,891
- Amazon – 1,726
- Microsoft – 1,184
Georgia Institute of Technology
- Amazon – 2,214
- Home Depot – 1,018
- Apple – 921
- AT&T – 876
- ExxonMobil – 260
Stanford University
- Apple – 2,104
- Amazon – 1,373
- Microsoft – 1,152
- Alphabet Inc. – 10
What did they study?
Additional examination of enrollment data allowed the researchers to determine the types of undergraduate majors that were most common among these graduates.
Given the prominence of digital businesses in the Fortune 500, computing and information technology degrees were the most sought after backgrounds.
In the field of computer science, cyber security and DevOps were popular specialties that are also predicted to see significant growth in the future.
Degrees in business, areas related to management, economics and finance they were in high demand across all sectors, including retail, healthcare, business consulting, finance and communications.
Wall Street employers such as Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan Chase and Berkshire Hathaway continue to prefer students from name-brand schools with traditional business-related degrees. Top examples were Harvard MBA, Wharton School Administration, and University of Chicago Economics degree.
Accounting degrees have long been a popular path to Fortune 500 employment, and they continue to rank among the top qualifications sought by these companies.
Finally, according to the DegreeChoices staff, some “less conventional degree paths” are also in high demand. “For example, psychology Graduates are now highly sought after by Fortune 500 employers such as Amazon, CVS and Apple. This is partly because trained psychologists have expert knowledge of consumer psychology and user behavior, which technology companies can use to create better, more user-friendly products.”
These results confirm many other studies showing that there are many educational pathways to highly successful careers and leadership positions. Graduating from an elite college can give you an edge in landing a job at one of the country's biggest companies, but it's not the only way to get there.
