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Did graduate employment rates, licensure pass rates, or earnings shift after the status was removed?
Executive summary
Available reporting shows mixed signals about employment, licensure pass rates and earnings after various “status” or policy changes; employment rates for broader graduate cohorts were largely flat in 2024 (87.6% employed) while labor-market indicators for recent graduates weakened in 2024–25 with unemployment and hiring declines cited by multiple outlets (e.g., hiring down 16% and recent-graduate unemployment ~5–6%) [1] [2] [3]. Licensure pass-rate trends vary by profession and exam: NCLEX and some nursing-program reports show both increases and sharp declines depending on the time window and version of the test [4] [5]; professional exams such as the CPA and NAPLEX have experienced structural changes and long-run shifts in pass rates [6] [7].
1. Employment: broad graduate employment stayed steady, but recent-graduate hiring softened
National-level graduate employment (16–64) was unchanged at about 87.6% in 2024 versus 2023, with postgraduate employment even rising to a record 90%—but that static aggregate masks a growing gap versus non-graduates because non-graduate employment fell, widening the advantage for degree-holders [1]. By contrast, labor-market measures focused on recent graduates (the cohort entering the job market) show deterioration in 2024–25: reporting finds unemployment for recent U.S. graduates around 5–5.8% and new-hire activity for entry-level roles down materially (one payroll firm puts new hiring down 16% year‑over‑year), suggesting that the early-career market weakened even while overall graduate employment remained high [2] [3] [8].
2. Earnings: sector and experience matter; internships and majors move pay outcomes
Available data link higher earnings to certain majors and experiential learning: engineering grads reported substantially higher average pay (~$78,731), and graduates with internships earned materially more (roughly $59,059 vs $44,048), implying earnings shifts are driven by field and experience rather than a uniform post‑status removal effect [8]. Broader commentary notes a fall in job openings (12.1M → 7.2M across 2022–mid‑2025 in one report) and worries that AI and sector shifts are eroding entry-level ladders—factors that can compress starting pay or make degree premiums less certain in some occupations [9].
3. Licensure pass rates: no single trend — outcomes depend on exam and timing
Pass-rate stories diverge across professions. The NCLEX story is mixed: an analysis reports RN pass rates rose when the “Next Generation NCLEX” launched (into the high‑80s/low‑90s for some years) but other reports show pass rates fell markedly in early 2025 (e.g., one quarterly report put NCLEX‑RN pass rate at 71.6% in Q1 2025) — indicating timing, exam revisions, and which pass-rate metric is reported (first‑time vs total) matter greatly [4] [5]. For pharmacy, long‑running declines in NAPLEX first‑time pass rates since 2014 (from ~95% down to below 80%) are documented and framed as a systemic concern for pharmacy programs [7]. Accounting’s CPA pathway reforms (CPA Evolution and competency‑based alternatives) have shifted pass-rate patterns by section and prompted commentary that pass rates are “normalizing” after changes; specific sections show different trajectories [6] [10] [11].
4. Causation vs correlation: “status removed” is often one of many moving parts
None of the provided sources directly tie a single policy label “status was removed” to uniform changes in employment, licensure pass rates or earnings. Instead, reporting points to a mix of drivers — exam redesigns, new competency pathways, macro hiring slowdowns, AI and sectoral shifts, and differing metrics (first‑time vs total pass rates) — that jointly change outcomes [6] [4] [9] [8]. For example, nursing pass-rate swings followed the Next‑Gen NCLEX rollout and later declines, showing that exam changes and reporting choices (which pass-rate is emphasized) alter the apparent trend [4] [5].
5. Data limitations and what reporting does not say
Available sources do not mention a single, cross‑sector dataset showing a before‑and‑after comparison tied explicitly to one “status removal” across employment, licensure and earnings simultaneously; therefore causality claims about “the status was removed” driving uniform changes are not found in current reporting (not found in current reporting). Many sources focus on either aggregate graduate employment, recent‑graduate unemployment, or individual licensure exams, which limits direct comparability [1] [2] [4].
6. How to interpret competing viewpoints and next steps for readers
When press releases or institutions emphasize improvement (shorter time to licensure, higher total pass rates) read them alongside independent quarterly or research reports that may show short‑term declines or different metrics (first‑time pass rates, Q1 vs annual averages) — both perspectives appear in the record and can reflect different interests: institutions often highlight total pass or program success while regulators and media report first‑time pass or recent quarterly drops [12] [5] [13]. For a sharper answer, seek exam‑specific, time‑series pass‑rate tables (first‑time and eventual/pass‑through rates), and cohort‑level employment and earnings data that distinguish recent graduates from the full graduate population [3] [14].