Graduation ceremonies for DePaul University’s 2015 class begin Saturday, and if historical trends hold true, many members of this year’s graduating class will choose to live and work in Chicago.

According to DePaul President Rev. Fr. Dennis Holtschneider, “80 percent of DePaul grads stay and build their lives in greater Chicagoland, making us a net importer of talent into Chicago.” With a student body of almost 24,000, DePaul is the largest private, nonprofit university in the Midwest. The school is the largest Catholic university in the United States.

To help ensure its students are prepared to enter the workforce upon graduation, Holtschneider told the Daily Whale the university recruits industry experts to guest lecture and teach in its approximately 300 academic programs. Additionally, the reverend said the university seeks consultation from professional advisory boards in key industries when developing its programming.

Gillian Steele, executive director of DePaul's Career Center, told the Daily Whale students studying information technology and data analytics are among the most in-demand graduates among potential employers. She said those concentrations join more traditional fields of study such as accounting and finance as the top majors for finding employment upon graduation.

Steele explained 92 percent of the largest publicly held companies in Chicagoland recruit DePaul students. Those companies include Abbott Laboratories, Northern Trust and United Airlines. The City of Chicago, Cook County, the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago, CME Group, Hilton Worldwide and KPMG are also among the top recruiters of DePaul alums.

Chicago-area startups have also increased their hiring of DePaul graduates, Steele told the Daily Whale. Often operating in the technology sector, those startups offer graduates a fast-paced environment where they can apply the knowledge they have obtained in school while continuing to learn in an intimate environment.

Peter Szczepanski, who will graduate from DePaul this weekend with a bachelor’s degree in computer science, recently took a position with the lending institution Avant. Founded in 2012, the Chicago-based startup delivers clients online solutions for personal banking. The company has quickly grown to more than 500 employees and has attracted $1 billion in venture capital. Szczepanski described finding a position in a fast-paced yet close-knit startup as the top priority of his job search.

“I saw Avant as a young, growing company, and they had a wide array of very interesting financial services. It’s also an engineering-focused culture,” he told the Daily Whale. Szczepanski added that the startup environment ensures “the work that my team and I will be doing has a greater impact on the success of the business. This also really benefits me because I find this to be an excellent learning opportunity.”

An added benefit of startup life, Szczepanski said, is the self-starter nature of his new co-workers. He explained that the fact that many workers are engaged in their own technology projects helps build a comradery among startup employees.

In addition to providing programming designed and delivered by leading industry professionals, an important component of DePaul’s curriculum is its Experiential Learning requirement. Under the program, students gain real-world experience in their field of study. Szczepanski said he believes an internship he obtained through the program early in his education helped him land an offer from Avant long before graduation.

The Experiential Learning requirement is not limited to internships. Students may also fill the requirement by studying abroad or conducting group or individual research. Rev. Holtschneider said a service-based component of the Experiential Learning program in which students conduct community service with local nonprofits is in line with the philosophy of St. Vincent de Paul, the university’s namesake.

“St. Vincent de Paul lived through three French wars, when poverty shifted from a rural phenomenon to an urban phenomenon,” he explained. “He and his colleagues had to figure out how to resettle untold thousands, feed them, create urban public housing, and redesign healthcare, the criminal justice system, and job training on an immense scale.”

Holtschneider continued, “His constant challenge to those around him was to open their eyes to the needs of their time and ask ‘What must be done?’  That’s the question we give our students at DePaul and the mission for which we are preparing them in our own time with its own needs.  If they call themselves a ‘DePaul graduate,’ they should care about the world around them.”

Carolyn Garner, campus recruiting manager with Chicago-based tax and accounting firm McGladrey, said her company regularly hires DePaul students. She said the university’s graduates have a track record of success that is often rooted in their internship experiences while in school.

In addition to being a major selling point for employers seeking to hire DePaul graduates, the schools’ Experiential Learning program also helps attract students to the school. Szczepanski said the ability to intern with and seek employment at an array of leading companies in a major city convinced him DePaul was his best option.

When asked why he believes so many DePaul students choose to work in the city following graduation, Holtschneider stated, “Our alumni stay in Chicago because Chicago’s worth staying in.” He added, “They stay because this is a robust economy compared to many others in the Midwest, but also for the arts, the sports, the culture, the diversity, the vibrancy of this city.  As long as Chicago is strong, DePaul will be strong.”