Forbes has named Kettering University one of its 15 Top Colleges for Launching Your Career, a national list highlighting institutions that prioritize Co-op programs, internships, coaching and workforce preparation as artificial intelligence and economic shifts reshape entry-level hiring.
Each institution was evaluated for career preparation using metrics such as participation in Co-ops and internships, post-graduation employment rates and median earnings three years after graduation.
Nationally, just 41 percent of undergraduates complete a Co-op or internship before graduating. As one of the select institutions that require every student to complete a Co-op, Kettering University stands out among the Top 15 schools, most of which report participation rates above 70 percent. By graduation, Kettering students have completed approximately 2.5 years of full-time professional work experience and earned between $55,000 and $75,000 (often more) during the entirety of their Co-op rotations.
Founded in 1919 as the General Motors Institute, Kettering’s academic model is built around a 50/50 classroom and workplace structure, where students begin paid Co-op employment in their first year and alternate between academic and professional terms throughout their degree.
Career Outcomes in a Challenging Hiring Climate
The list arrives at a time of growing concern for high school seniors and their families. Recent graduates are facing a tighter job market, declining average job offers and increased competition for internships. According to Forbes, student priorities are changing as a result.
“A few years ago, students were much more focused on college experiences, like the opportunities to go abroad. Now they’re focused on return on their investment,” said Anjali Bhatia, CEO of college advising firm Collegewise.
Forbes reports that the unemployment rate for recent college graduates remains higher than that of the broader workforce. Just 30 percent of 2025 graduates had secured full-time jobs related to their degrees by summer and the average number of job offers per graduate has continued to decline.
Against that backdrop, Kettering’s workforce-embedded academic model reflects a long-term view of higher education, one grounded in measured outcomes rather than short-term collegiate experiences.
“Don’t focus on the college experience,” said Dr. Robert McMahan, president of Kettering University, in a June interview with Forbes. “Focus instead on likely outcomes ten years out.”
As students and families increasingly evaluate colleges based on outcomes rather than tradition alone, Kettering’s inclusion on the Forbes list affirms the strength of its industry-embedded education model and long-standing focus on professional preparation.
“The extent to which higher education fails to understand itself as part of the workforce supply-chain is the extent to which it will continue to drift into irrelevance,” McMahan concluded.
