In addition, Robinson said that WSSU graduate students earning master’s degrees or doctorates received the second-highest average annual salary among their peers at UNC system schools. WSSU graduate students earned an average of $60,000 a year, according to the study, trailing only UNC Chapel Hill, which had an average yearly salary of $63,264.

Robinson told trustees that the university’s top rankings can be attributed to the hard work of faculty members and administrators. The achievement is a product of the school’s Plan for Student Success for 2010-2015, he added.

“As a result, it really has begun to pay off,” Robinson said.

Jacqueline Keener, the acting director of the commerce department’s Labor and Economic Analysis Division, said that researchers considered several factors in the study.

“The specific paths that an individual takes upon completion of a degree program can have an impact on the employment and wage outcomes associated with that program,” Keener said in an email. “Individuals can be employed full time and enrolled in further education, employed part time and enrolled in further education, employed in multiple jobs, not employed or a multitude of employment and educational situations.

The analysis didn’t distinguish whether the graduates had full- or part-time jobs, Keener said.

Nancy Young, a WSSU spokeswoman, said the wages in the study were influenced by the students’ program of study and the size of the job pool in North Carolina in those fields.

The study did not attempt to explain such variables as why a graduate might not be working in North Carolina, was unemployed or the difference in programs offered by the campuses.

According to the report, 1,369 WSSU undergraduates and 152 graduate students received bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees or doctorates during the 2012-13 academic year.

N.C. Central University was ranked No. 2 with 72.1 percent of undergraduates receiving bachelor’s degrees getting jobs in the state, but the average annual salary of $27,736 was 10th among the 16 schools.

UNC Greensboro was fourth with 71.7 percent of its undergraduates receiving degrees getting jobs in the state and 12th in average annual salary at $27,224.

Appalachian State University was eighth with 64.3 percent of undergraduate degree recipients getting jobs in North Carolina. The school was seventh in average annual salary at $27,396 a year.

UNC School of the Arts was last among the 16 schools in the UNC system with 16.7 percent of its undergraduates receiving bachelor’s degrees getting jobs in the state, according to the study. The conservatory’s students received an average of $15,536 annually, which also was last.

WSSU’s Robinson said that companies hiring WSSU graduates considered them articulate and competent, Robinson said.

“Employers want them because they have a learning spirit,” he said.

jhinton@wsjournal.com

(336)727-7299