After declines in offer and acceptance rates in recent years, both increased for Class of 2020 new college graduates, according to NACE’s latest recruiting benchmarks.

Employers extended job offers to an average of 47.3% of the Class of 2020 new college graduates they interviewed, up 5.2 percentage points from the average extended to the pre-pandemic Class of 2018 graduates. Class of 2020 new college graduates accepted 73.6% of those offers, a climb of 7.9 percentage points over those graduating in 2018. (See Figure 1.)

In general, both offer and acceptance rates had been in an overall downward trend in recent years, suggesting both employers and students were being more selective. However, during the 2020-21 recruiting year, more offers were extended and more of those offers were accepted. For both employers and new graduates, the upswings were likely driven by the pandemic.

The findings are consistent with similar increases seen in intern conversion in 2020. Although the increase in the acceptance rate was not as remarkable, employers made significantly more job offers to their interns in 2020, boosting the overall conversion rate.

What remains to be seen is whether the increases will hold as the pandemic fades.

Data from the 2021 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey Reportwere collected on June 7, 2021, until August 6, 2021. Responses reflect recruiting results for the Class of 2020. The survey was distributed to organizations holding NACE membership as well as nonmembers. In all, 186 NACE members responded, representing 22.3% of all eligible member respondents. An additional 27 responses were received from nonmember companies. The 2021 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey Report and its interactive dashboard are available to participants on NACEWeb. Those who did not participate can access an executive summary or purchase the report through NACE.

Source: 2021 Recruiting Benchmarks Survey Report, National Association of Colleges and Employers.