The Gallup-Purdue Index includes responses from 55,812 adults who received bachelor’s degrees between 1940 and 2015. The results illustrate how many graduates, particularly those from different racial or ethnic backgrounds, went on to have great jobs and live great lives after college and how their college experiences factored into each.

This study yields important insights for educators, employers, alumni and prospective students about the factors that contribute to great jobs, lives and experiences for graduates from every walk of life, with a special focus on minorities and members of underrepresented student populations. It also identifies the areas in which graduates in these groups are thriving, and areas to which higher education institutions need to pay extra attention.