Universities Must Track What Happens After Graduation
UNIVERSITIES ARE OFTEN JUDGED BY HOW MANY STUDENTS GRADUATE
Increasingly, the more important question is what happens next. A recent benchmark of 50 public and private higher-education institutions in South Africa found strong practices in curriculum relevance, employer engagement and work-integrated learning. Yet it also identified a weakness that is harder to see: many institutions do not have reliable systems for tracking whether graduates find relevant work, how long it takes, or whether that employment is sustained.
That gap matters. Without credible graduate-outcomes data, universities are forced to rely on anecdotes, isolated alumni stories or broad employment statistics. Students choosing qualifications cannot easily compare the pathways that different programmes create. Employers cannot see which institutions consistently prepare students for the workplace. Funders and policymakers cannot tell which interventions are improving outcomes. Universities themselves cannot confidently identify where their curricula or support systems need to change.
TRACKING OUTCOMES IS NOT ABOUT REDUCING EDUCATION TO A SALARY FIGURE
A graduate’s path is shaped by economic conditions, geography, family responsibilities and the labour market. Universities cannot create jobs on their own. But they should be able to understand and report the contribution they make: whether graduates are entering fields related to their studies, gaining further skills, starting businesses or remaining excluded from opportunity.
The benchmark points to an important distinction between having employability initiatives and knowing whether they work. An internship programme, career centre or employer partnership may sound valuable. The real test is whether students experience better transitions into work as a result.
SOUTH AFRICA NEEDS A MORE CONSISTENT NATIONAL APPROACH TO GRADUATE TRACKING
Supported by clear definitions, privacy safeguards and regular reporting. Institutions should be able to follow graduates over time without treating them as mere statistics. Students should also have access to meaningful information before choosing where and what to study.
Higher education has always been about more than securing a first job. But in a country facing persistent youth unemployment, the transition from learning to opportunity cannot remain a blind spot.
If universities want to demonstrate their public value, they need to measure not only who crosses the graduation stage, but what becomes possible afterwards.
