Business is business as usual at Bentley

Step inside a small room at Bentley University’s Pulsifer Career Development Center and you will see racks of gently worn and donated business clothing for men and women with brands such as Brooks Brothers, Tommy Hilfiger, Donna Karan and Ann Taylor. A chest of dress socks, a bundle of ties and a variety of high-heeled shoes round out the collection.

The clothes are meant to ensure that students who need business dress for internship and job interviews lack for nothing. They are a tangible sign that hints at the extraordinary effort Bentley makes to prepare students for the world of work.

Recognition of that effort came recently with a ranking of No. 8 in the U.S. News & World Report list of colleges and universities with the highest return on investment. It’s a measure of anticipated future income, and Bentley has prestigious company along with institutions such as Carnegie Mellon, Stanford and Georgetown universities.

Bentley also excels in other independent measures. The Wall Street Journal ranked Bentley No. 11 in the nation on its measure of how well an institution prepares its graduates for financial success, and it is the top-ranked business-focused university.

In its “2025 Best Colleges” guide, The Princeton Review ranked the Pulsifer Career Development Center No. 1 for “Best Career Services,” marking the 12th consecutive year the center has ranked among the top five in the United States. The New York Times ranked Bentley No. 4 among colleges where alumni earn the highest median income a decade after graduation. 

Janet Ehl, assistant vice president at Bentley, heads the career center and said the effort to prepare students for work gets off to a fast start as 95% of the first-year class takes the optional Career Design seminar to learn about their personal strengths and talents. This six-week, nonacademic course is free, and the willingness of college-age students to give their time to a task that is not required says a lot about the value they place on it.

Alyssa Hammond, director of undergraduate career development, said that the “only incentive to take the class is to get what you need out of it — essentially a job search toolkit.”

“We give them the gift of self-awareness, and then we talk about how to incorporate this information into their resumes, cover letters, LinkedIn profiles, how to interview, how to look for internships,” she said.

At the conclusion of the course, students are prepared to look for an internship if they wish. The overwhelming majority — 90% of students — have at least one internship, and 70% have multiple internships during their time at Bentley.

The career center offers more advanced preparation such as nine Career Design Intensive seminars organized by major fields of study. Students may take as many as they want, at any time. For certain kinds of internships, that preparation cannot come too early.

“What we’ve learned,” said Ehl, “is that to be ready for a Wall Street internship your junior year, you have to be prepared to interview by January of your sophomore year.”

Ehl described a comprehensive approach to preparing students that includes curricular innovation with new majors such as one in artificial intelligence for innovation and another in finance and technology. Staff in the career center are attuned to meeting the needs of the employment marketplace. Some 300 alumni participate annually in programs that give students first-hand accounts of the world they will be entering.

Students also learn from peers who are trained as career colleagues. Jonathan DeStazio, a senior economics and finance major, noted that career colleagues have evolved their approach as undergraduates have used AI tools such as ChatGPT to help them write cover letters.

“If something is doing the work for you, you are not doing the work,” he said. The goal is to help students find their authentic voice that will come across with conviction.

Sophia Marchant, a junior majoring in computer information systems, noted that students often don’t know how to connect their high school experiences to their college work. With some counseling, they come to understand that “scooping ice cream has helped them with time management and organizational skill,” she said.

The rewards of helping fellow students can be significant. Demilade “Dems” Fela-Durotoye, a finance major with a concentration in capital markets, worked with one student who lacked confidence and consistently second-guessed himself. But he had a lot of passion for the topic of risk management, and Fela-Durotoye led him to an understanding that he had a compelling story to tell, one that would resonate fully with an employer. This student, who landed a job he had eagerly sought with a major bank, recorded a video interview thanking Felo-Durotoye, which deeply moved him. 

Bentley’s effort pays off in student success after graduation. Ninety-nine percent of Bentley’s undergraduate Class of 2024 graduates are employed or attending or planning to attend graduate school, according to data reported six months after their graduation. Graduates also report a $72,000 median starting salary. 

Members of that class were hired by 285 employers nationwide, including companies well known in the Boston area such as Bain Capital, Boston Scientific, Mass General Brigham and State Street Bank.

Students in Waltham take advantage of Bentley’s success in career development, and Bentley welcomes them. Bentley currently provides more than $1.3 million in scholarship gift aid to its 39 undergraduate and nine graduate students from Waltham, according to Helen Henrichs, director of news and public relations. The Bentley-Waltham Scholarship is awarded to one first-year student from Waltham each year and provides four years of tuition support. All Waltham residents are considered for the scholarship through the admission process.

The Waltham Youth Sports Award is awarded to two entering students each year who are residents of Waltham and have participated in Waltham youth sports. The scholarship is $10,000 per year and is renewable.