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Denver was rated No. 3 in the “Top 10 Best Cities for Recent College Graduates” report by apartments.com and careerrookie.com.
U.S. cities with high concentrations of 20 to 24 year-olds were ranked based on the amount of available jobs requiring less than a year of experience from the CareerRookie database and the average cost to rent a one-bedroom apartment from apartments.com.
Jobs are mostly in sales, customer service and health care, according to the report, and a one-bedroom apartment typically rents for $779 a month.
Coming in as No. 1 was Atlanta, then Phoenix, Denver, Dallas, Boston, Philadelphia, New York, Cincinnati, Baltimore and Los Angeles.
“Denver’s a thriving economy,” said Pat O’Keefe the assistant director of the Career Center. She also attributed opportunities in Denver to its unemployment rate which is slightly below the national level.
“Sustainable and renewable energies are a focus area for Denver which will bring jobs in the future,” said O’Keefe.
The Career Center judges the University’s success, in terms of students finding jobs after graduation, based on the amount and type of employers attending the career fair as well as results from surveying students about plans after commencement.
This year big companies like Oracle and National Renewable Energy Laboratory, a federal organization dedicated to researching renewable energy attended the fair and Microsoft participated for the first time. The survey gathers information about whether or not students are graduating with jobs lined up or are still searching.
Senior, Marcus deThouars is graduating in June and plans to stay in Denver afterwards to continue collaborative work creating apps for the iPhone. He also has other various job opportunities in fields of consulting and social media as well as being a video jockey.
“Denver is on the cutting edge of technology, especially green technology, providing the framework for sustainable development of opportunity,” said deThouars citing examples like the sustainability initiatives put forth by the mayor.
Ashley Petersen is a graduate student in the Public Relations program, she moved to Denver after completing undergrad in Ohio.
“I moved here because I knew there were a lot more people my age and opportunities for people my age and a lot of people I knew had come out to Denver,” said Petersen.
Alden Baker is graduating as an International Studies and German major with a minor in French and plans to move away from Denver after the summer to pursue opportunities abroad.
“I want to move beyond the U.S. and maybe one day I’ll come back, it’s not out of the question,” said Baker.
Forbes’ 2010 report of “Best Places for Business and Careers” ranked Fort Collins, Colo. as No. 4 and puts Denver at No. 6, looking at the cost of doing business, projected job-growth, availability of education and the metro area population. Forbes’ “Best Cities for Singles 2009” ranked Denver No. 13 out of 40 based on coolness, cost of living alone, culture, job growth, online dating, nightlife and ratio of singles to population. StudentUniverse.com rates Denver in the top 10 cities for college graduates reasoning that there is a large population of young adults because of the affordable cost of living and the nearby outdoor recreational activities.
With a nationally high brewery count per capita and a legend that the first building in Denver was a drinking establishment, we all know there is a high concentration of bars for young people to gather at www.denver.com/nightlife.
Gradspot.com ranked Denver No. 6 in their Top 10 Cities for Recent Grads. Looking at growth rates, average salaries and cost of living, CollegeGrotto.com ranked Denver No. 9 last year in their Top Cities for Finding a Job After College.
Undergraduate commencement will take place on June 5 in Magness Arena at 9 a.m. Tickets are required to attend. Patricia Gabow, a CEO of Denver Health and Hospital Authority will speak at the ceremony which is expected to last two and a half hours. For information on the Law School ceremony as well as the graduate ceremony visit du.edu/commencement.
