Class of 2024: a Penn State education will set you up for success

“You won’t just be watching what’s going on in the world. You’ll be running the future. That’s our commitment to you,” states Barron during a virtual session for the Class of 2024 accepted students

Penn State held the final mini-event in its series — Class of 2024: A Virtual “Welcome to the Penn State Community,” consisting of four livestream Q&A sessions with students, alumni, faculty and members of Penn State’s leadership team. Credit: Penn State. Creative Commons

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. -- Penn State held the final mini-event in its series — Class of 2024: A Virtual “Welcome to the Penn State Community,” consisting of four livestream Q&A sessions with students, alumni, faculty and members of Penn State’s leadership team. Penn State President Eric J. Barron recently invited the newest cohort of accepted students to watch the series and learn more about the Penn State community’s commitment to their success.

Barron hosted this event and provided an inspirational welcome to accepted students, telling them that Penn State is working hard to move safely toward on-campus learning in the fall. He encouraged students to think beyond the next couple months, however, and to consider how this decision will impact not only the next four years but the rest of their lives. He asked them to think about what Penn State offers them in terms of its breadth of opportunity, flexibility to deliver high-quality education in any circumstance, and outstanding outcomes by the same faculty in all courses.

Penn Staters came together in this session to answer submitted questions and help students and their families understand how Penn State will help them achieve their long-term goals. In keeping with the theme, Value of a Penn State Education, participants focused on topics related to the incredible outcomes that result from a Penn State education and access to the Penn State alumni network. The archived live event, can be viewed at Classof2024.psu.edu.

Barron was joined by Steve Wagman, national healthcare business leader for Siemens Industry–Building Technologies and the 80th president of the Penn State Alumni Association; Robert Wolfe, Penn State Lehigh Valley economics lecturer and advisor to the Lehigh Valley LaunchBox; Saschelle Mandoza, Class of 2020; Nathan Smith, Class of 2020.

Wagman provided his perspective as a top recruiter of Penn State students. “I take a lot of pride in interviewing and putting forward Penn State students. From a corporate perspective, we’ve hired scores of students. In fact, for my company, Penn State is always the number one or number two school that we recruit from in the U.S. every year... What separates a Penn State student are several things. First of all, they’re well-prepared with academics, no question. And, they’re smart. When you get a Penn State student, you know that they’re smart and they do well in the classroom, but more than that is that they’re a well-rounded student. From a corporation perspective, you want somebody who is going to be able to make a more immediate contribution to the company, and Penn State students come well prepared...Even those recruiters who don’t come from Penn State always comment that they wish they could hire all their college grads each year from Penn State.”

Barron pointed to data to support that recruiters seek out Penn State students. “There are many major companies who will tell us that we’re #1 or #2 in terms of the number of new employees that they have. And we see this also born out in national surveys. A recent national survey ranked Penn State as #5, tied with MIT, in terms of where corporate America wants to recruit.” Barron continued, saying that recruiters agree that Penn State students are “well-rounded, have a good education, and have drive. I hear them comment over and over again on the work ethic of a Penn State student...and we see that message in terms of hiring patterns, we see that message in terms of recruiting surveys, and we also know because thousands of companies come onto our campuses every year to recruit our students.”

Wolfe, sharing his perspective as an advisor to the Lehigh Valley LaunchBox emphasized how Penn State prepares students for success. “Penn State has resources that a lot of other universities don’t, and that’s going to give students an outstanding education. Those resources aren’t just academic in nature. Those resources are also social in nature, and that’s equally important to the academics. When you complete your degree program and you interview for a job, you need those social skills... Students come to Penn State University not only to gain the knowledge they gain through their classwork. They also come to Penn State University because they want to build a career.”

Mandoza, Penn State Lehigh Valley 2020 Student Marshal, overcame personal challenges to become a leader in her class with the commitment of the Penn State community. Stepping into an exciting new career, she praised Penn State, saying “Without Penn State, I don’t know how I would have done it. They prepared me for a professional job before I even graduated.” Mandoza also talked about the unwavering support she received from faculty members like Wolfe while working toward her dream of starting her own business as a Penn State student. She praised the Lehigh Valley LaunchBox, discussed the resources it offered to bolster her entrepreneurial efforts and the invaluable tools it provided to get her ideas off the ground. “It’s a networking-based organization that provides small grants and helps you start your own business. It provides mentorships, business resources, and even legal advice.”

Smith shared his own experience of Penn State preparing him for the future. “I think Penn State has the advantage of being such a big school that no matter who you are or what interests you have, you’re going to find that community for you. There are so many opportunities. One of the opportunities that I took advantage of was the Early Assurance Program at Penn State. You fill the requirements and apply to medical school in your sophomore year. Having something like that streamlined my whole med school process, which can be a stressful time. Next year I’ll be going to the Penn State College of Medicine.... I’m going to a medical school that has an amazing set of values and mission and perspective on medicine that really aligns with mine. That kind of support makes the degree so special and Penn State such a special place.”

Barron pointed to the ways the Penn State alumni network opens doors and sets its students up for lifetime success. “Many students, when asked, will say they actually chose a university not for the educational programs but for the potential of what it can deliver with number one on the list being the network that you become a part of when you get a degree. That Penn State network is incredibly broad and incredibly deep and such a strong sense of community.” Barron reiterated how much that community is there to support long-term goals. “I know these students are going to be successful. How articulate they are, the way they’re thinking, what it is that they’re working on, and the goals that they’re setting. This is a place where if you set your goals, you can get there, and you have a lot of people that are willing to assist you to achieve those goals.”

Participants offered inspiring words to accepted students and told them to look toward the future. Wagman said, “This is a lifelong commitment... “At the end of it, you get to meet a lot of dynamic alumni who come back to whichever campus it is because they want to be there, and they want to engage with students. I would encourage all the incoming students to take advantage of those opportunities.”

Barron provided closing remarks for the day, telling students all that they have to look forward to. “I encourage you to think about this with a longer-term view of what it is that a Penn State degree means. With your work ethic and your intelligence, and our commitment, you won’t just be watching what’s going on in the world. You’ll be running the future. That’s our commitment to you.”

Please check out Classof2024.psu.edu to view the archived live events for this and the first three sessions: Flexibility to Meet Individual Needs, The Penn State Student Experience, and Strength of the Penn State Community. Previous sessions covered topics around the Penn State community, return to campus, deferrals, financial resources, a new option called Flex Start and others that offer students flexibility. There will be a follow-up after the series with answers to some of the questions that time didn’t allow for.

Last Updated May 27, 2020