A row of Knox graduates in caps and gowns looking forward.

Knox Outcomes

Knox graduates think critically and creatively, work collaboratively, communicate clearly, adapt to new technologies, and navigate today’s global world—all skills that we excel at providing our students.

Notable Knox Alumni

The Power of a Knox Education

A Knox education isn't something you sit and watch—it's something you go out and do. Our students take the knowledge they learn in the classroom and apply it through research and creative work, internships, service work, and off-campus study. And these experiences, combined with opportunities to live and learn with students from different backgrounds and to develop leadership skills in clubs and organizations, all prepare graduates to find success after Knox.

All you need to do is read the list of our notable alumni—including a Pulitzer Prize winner, a White House advisor, more than a couple of entrepreneurs, an International Emmy Award-winning comedian, and co-creator of the BASIC computer language—and it's easy to see the many paths open to you as a Knox graduate.

Career & Community Connections Open Doors

The close-knit campus community, city of Galesburg, and 17,000+ alumni around the world are the perfect supportive, resource-rich environment to prepare you for a successful transition into your professional life. Through the Power of Knox graduates find success.

They run Fortune 500 companies and non-profits.
They conduct major research around the world.
They found startups and music festivals.
They see a human need and meet it.

Meet our notable Knox alumni.

Things that every Knox graduate carries with them after Knox:

A resume packed with tangible experience—internships, study abroad, service, leadership.
The ability to live and work and collaborate with people from all over the world who don't think or act like you. In other words: the ability to be an effective member of the 21st century.
The ability to come up with big, bold ideas—and then find small, concrete, profound ways to bring them to life.
The ability to be both critical-minded and constructive; to be both analytical and action-oriented; to be both idealistic and pragmatic; to be both self-motivated and community-minded.

Knowledge, Experience, & Community

All of the skills you honed at Knox—critical thinking, problem solving, communicating across difference—help you land your first job, pursue a graduate degree, or serve your community. Plus, you join a network of fellow Knox graduates around the globe.

Top 4%

of institutions whose graduates earn Ph.Ds

100%

of students complete research or creative work, internships, service work or study abroad

16K+

Alumni in the Knox Network

A Knox student in business attire stands at a window overlooking the Chicago skyline.

Employers That Recently Hired Knox Graduates

100% of recent graduates feel the career center was helpful in finding them a job or internship at places like:

Blick Art Materials
Chicago Public Library
EPIC Systems Corporation
Illinois Department of Public Health
JPMorgan Chase
Microsoft
National Park Service
Penn State College of Medicine

Bastian Family Center for Career Success

A Knox student with a laptop looks to the front of classroom.

Graduate or Professional Schools Where You'll Find Knox Alumni

Our students do the kind of work—intensive, hands-on, grounded in research—that leads organically to graduate and professional school. And they've worked with professors who a) are connected to advanced programs throughout the country, and b) know you exceedingly well, as a student and as a human being, which means they can help you find a program where you can do your best work, and that they can write an unusually thoughtful and thorough recommendation to places like:

Duke University
George Washington University
Marquette University Law School
Northwestern University
Purdue University
Rush University
University of Central Florida
University of Chicago
University of Michigan
University of Pennsylvania
Washington University in St. Louis

Majors & Minors

Living Our Misson & Values

One of the enduring values of a liberal arts education is that it instills in its graduates a love of lifelong learning and the ability to adapt and change with our rapidly changing world. The Knox College Mission states it best: "Our aims throughout are to foster a lifelong love of learning and a sense of competence, confidence and proportion that will enable us to live with purpose and to contribute to the well-being of others." What better proof of these enduring values than our alumni. Ten years after graduating from Knox:

78%

of graduates say that they are using important skills that they learned at Knox

83%

of graduates say they are pursuing meaningful work

61%

say they participate in civic engagement opportunities

What Four Generations of Alumni Say about Knox

I believe Knox instilled in me—and helped me develop—the ability to reason, think logically, and keep an open mind. These qualities helped both in law school and as I became a practicing attorney...I will always be glad to say that I got my education here at Knox.

Dudley McCarter '72

Lawyer
Nothing prepares you for life like a liberal arts education. It teaches you to think, it teaches you to reason, and it teaches you to question, but in very logical, reasonable ways. In addition to that, a Knox education fosters independent thinking. Thinking outside the box is what I learned at Knox.

Patrick St. Aubyn Lyn '84

Asset Manager & Trustee Emeritus
Knox taught me to fail, and to learn from it and grow from it, and, therefore, to be comfortable with taking risks

Bridget Coughlin '94, Sc.D'19

CEO, Shedd Aquarium
Knox provided incredible opportunities to do just about anything—whether it be in the sciences, humanities, history, improv comedy, whatever—no matter what your interest.

Derek Papp '01

physician: