The Post-Collegiate Life Project began in 1987 with a survey of graduates from three Hobart & William Smith Colleges (HWS) class cohorts (graduating classes of 1979, 1982, and 1985). The survey asked questions about their post-collegiate lives in terms of friendship and family transitions, careers and post-graduate education, and health and well-being. This research has subsequently become the longest running study of post-college life in higher education involving remarkable response rates from entire graduating classes. The Project has expanded over the years and now includes graduates of 15 class cohorts spanning 40 years from the Class of 1979 to the Class of 2018 with surveys administered in 1987-88, 1991-92, 1996-97, 1999-2000, 2003-04, 2007-08, 2011-12, and 2019-21. Special topics of research in these data have included issues of stress and careers, gender roles and parenting, alcohol use and abuse, shifting life goals and values, experiences of forgiveness in the life course, and retrospective assessments of undergraduate academic preparation for careers and life experience in a global context. The Project is directed by H. Wesley Perkins, Professor of Sociology at HWS.

New Report on 2019-2021 Post-Collegiate Life Survey Results: Graduates Reflect on Academic Experience (with Comparisons Over Time)

• Report on Post-Graduate Pursuits, Assessments of HWS Academic and Co-Curricular Experiences and Willingness to Recommend HWS to Future Students


• See Invitation Letter for 2019-2021 Post-Collegiate Life Survey Sent to 15 Graduating Cohorts: Classes of '79, '82, '85, '89, '93, '97, '01, '05, '06, '09, '10, '13, '14, '17, and '18

Previous Survey Reports

• 2007-2008 Post-Collegiate Assessment of HWS Educational Experience: Responses from the Classes of '79, '82, '85, '89, '93, '97, '01, '05 and '06
• Report of 2003 Graduate Data Responses for Middle States Accreditation Review
• Report from the 1999-2000 HWS Post-Collegiate Life Survey (Classes of '79, '82, '85, '89 and '93)
• Report from the 1996-1997 HWS Post-Collegiate Life Survey (Classes of '79, '82, '85, '89 and '93)
• Report from the 1991-1992 HWS Post-Collegiate Life Survey (Classes of '79, '82, '85 and '89)
• Report from the 1987-1988 HWS Post-Collegiate Life Survey (Classes of '79, '82 and '85)

Research Papers

• Available research papers from the HWS Post-Collegiate Life survey project

Citations in the Popular Press

• Self Magazine, "How to live a more meaningful life," by Nancy Hass, June, 2007.
• News Journal, Wilmington, DL, "Holiday's Theme is forgiveness," by George Soulsman, September 15, 2004.

News Releases

• Perkins Presents Religion, Forgiveness (October 2009)
• Perkins Speaks of Forgiveness (September 2009)
• Grant to Study Forgiveness (October 1998)

Pulteney Street Survey

• "Married With Children" (Spring 1998)

Related Web Sites

• Alcohol Education Project
• H. Wesley Perkins Homepage