Alumni Networks Reimagined: Innovations Expanding Alumni Connections to Improve Postsecondary Pathways

Alumni networks are part of the bill of goods that colleges and universities sell to students. But according to a Strada-Gallup Alumni Survey, only 9% of college graduates reported that their alumni network was helpful or very helpful in the job market. That startling statistic says a lot about how poorly most institutions actually perform when it comes to systematically connecting alumni and students in reliable, scalable ways. Endowment-supported institutions have long-held, elaborate strategies in place to "engage" alumni to mine their financial capital. But if the Strada-Gallup alumni survey is any clue, they--and their peer institutions with smaller or no endowments--could be doing more to successfully activate alumni's social capital. That social capital has immense potential to drive improvements in students' experiences while on campus, and to bolster graduates' long-term return on investment (ROI) in a degree. With the right tools and models, postsecondary institutions could enlist alumni to deliberately equip college-goers with career skills and professional networks. This report highlights innovative companies and models that are emerging to help postsecondary players harness their alumni networks in new ways, and provides an analysis of five ways that rethinking alumni connections could fulfill postsecondary education's promise. The tools and models highlighted in this paper reflect the fact that it's networks--not just degrees--that lead to jobs. Alumni networks are a critical resource as postsecondary programs look to enrich the student experience, particularly with an eye towards boosting graduates' ROI.