96% of Class of 2020 receive placement offers within six months of completing national service

96% of Ashesi's Class of 2020 received job and graduate school placement offers within six months of completing national service, per our recent graduate placement survey. 93% of the Class had accepted an offer and started their careers within the reporting period, while the remaining 7% were still pursuing other opportunities. National service is a one-year volunteer work requirement for graduates in Ghana.

Our graduate survey focuses on surveying students (both Ghanaian and non-Ghanaian) after the national service period to indicate actual placement. The class' placement outcomes are similar to that of the Class of 2019, which had 97% receiving placement offers within six months of completing national service.

The results present a robust set of placement outcomes for a class that graduated at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. 77% of students who had started careers did so in Africa, with 14% beginning careers in Europe and 9% starting in North America. Finance and Technology industries collectively recruited 56% of the placed students.

Employers include KPMG Ghana, Vodafone Ghana, Microsoft, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America, IC Securities, Power Leone, and the Ghana Ministry of Finance. Graduate schools that members of the Class of 2020 are studying at include Georgetown University, Arizona State University, University of California, Berkeley, Carnegie Mellon University Africa, University of Warwick, and Sciences Po. 

The average starting monthly salary for the Class of 2020 was between GHs3000 - GHs4000, up from the Class of 2019's average of GHs2000 - GHs3000. The 90th percentile of the Class received starting salaries of GHs5000 or more, and the 75th percentile received starting salaries of GHs4000 - GHs5000 or more. 

In 2019, Ashesi received a 90% rating for career placement outcomes by the IFC's Vitae Programme. The programme evaluates a university's strategy for graduate employability, the quality and relevance of learning, employer engagement, career and placement services, student retention, and alumni engagement. The ambition is to foster the development of higher employability standards in emerging markets and improve student outcomes. Ashesi's rating was one of the highest among peers globally.