Colorado State University students graduating with a business degree can expect to make upwards of $47,000 on average after graduation, according to the College of Business.

Nine out of 10 graduates in the CSU College of Business get jobs within three months of graduating, and their success may be due in part to involvement in various clubs and organizations and a diverse enrollment within the program.  

Starting salaries among the concentrations within the College of Business range from $35,160 with a real estate degree to $59,660 with a computer information systems degree. The average full-time starting salary for all six concentrations within the College of Business is $47,340. 

CSU’s College of Business is the largest undergraduate major on campus and is ranked as the 18th best at a land-grant university, according to Bloomberg Businessweek rankings. Currently, there are 2,326 students majoring in business and 370 business freshmen, said Karissa Stolen, an employee in the College of Business. There are 1,563 students with business minors.

The College of Business has a 90-percent placement rate post-graduation for all concentrations within the college, and graduates in 2015 were offered positions across the nation and world-wide, including in seven different countries, said Jenn Long, manager of undergraduate and graduate career counseling.

CSU’s College of Business has been accredited by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business since 1970. This program accredits 740 of the best business schools across the United States. 

Even though the accounting concentration has the second smallest number of students within the college, accounting majors are offered the most jobs within three months of graduating. There were 288 students graduating with an accounting degree in spring 2015. In contrast, finance is the most popular concentration within the college.

Charles Tollen is a senior accounting student graduating in December. He is currently going through the accounting recruitment process with hopes of finding a job in Denver post-graduation.

“I did a part-time job with a defense contractor and I did accounting for them — that was my summer going into my junior year,” Tollen said. “I also did an internship with Otter Box last year, the summer going into my senior year.”

Internships play a large part of the educational experience for students in the College of Business, as 58 percent of graduates had one or more internships within their past four years of schooling, Long said. There are plenty of opportunities for students to get involved before graduating. Some of the associated student clubs and organizations include Business Diversity and Leadership Association, Rock 3.0, Global Business Network, DECA, College of Business Mentoring Program and several others. 

Ethnic minority students make up a quarter of those in the College of Business, and six percent of the entire college is from out of the country. As of spring 2015, more than half of the incoming undergraduate class of freshmen in the College of Business were men.

“I don’t really see (male to female ratios) to be a huge factor in my decision to be in the College of Business because I have never seen race or gender as a concern,” said Melanie Eoff, a freshman double majoring in business and construction management. “Management is a more risky concentration because it is a lot more competitive and obviously CSU is one of the best at it to be employing almost 80 percent of people after graduation.”

Collegian Reporter Savannah Hoag can be reached online at news@collegian.com or on Twitter @Sav_Hoag.