This spring, more than 5,300 University of Iowa undergraduate, graduate, and professional students will earn degrees. These Hawkeyes have engaged, excelled, and stretched to reach their goals.

Abbi Shekleton always knew she wanted to be a Hawkeye; it was a happy coincidence that Iowa has a highly ranked program in speech pathology, her academic area of interest. With master’s degree in hand, Shekleton will begin a clinical fellowship in Cedar Rapids, followed by a full-time position there as a speech-language pathologist.

Brian Damman, a senior legal counsel at a financial technology company in Des Moines and father of three, was able to add valuable perspective to his job while also maintaining a busy home life by completing Iowa’s online MBA program.

Sushma Santhana, a biomedical engineering graduate, worked in a campus lab to help create hydrogels to prevent skin wound infections and now is headed to a job at Boston Scientific.

Benton Renaud combined his academic work in finance and political science with his extracurricular work serving as a resident assistant and on the University Lecture Committee to pave a career path that is taking him to a two-year financial rotation with Boeing.

And Maggie McQuillen found the perfect fit for her active lifestyle in Iowa’s exercise science program — the Anamosa, Iowa, native will help others reach and maintain their own fitness goals through her work as a personal trainer.

Year after year, our students have pushed to achieve more and to come together for the greater good — that’s the Hawkeye Way. As this cohort of new graduates enters the next stage of their lives, they leave campus full of potential and promise.

If you or a loved one is graduating this spring, find ceremony information at the UI Commencement website.

Of the Hawkeyes who graduated in the 2022–23 academic year …

• 96% found a job, continued their education, or are not seeking employment.
• Their median salary is $54,000.
• 21% chose to continue their education.

These are our latest stats and they come from a survey of graduates completed six to seven months after graduation. More about Hawkeye grads and student outcomes is available at the Pomerantz Career Center.