SME: Mining engineering graduates increased 20 percent in 2015

By |  March 31, 2016

According to the Society of Mining, Metallurgy & Exploration’s (SME) 2016 Guide to Minerals and Materials Science Schools, 427 students graduating from U.S. mining schools received mining engineering degrees in 2015. This is a 20 percent increase from 356 graduates in 2014.

The report adds that mining is one of a handful of sectors projected to add jobs at a fairly constant rate over the next 20 years, and that there has been a noticeable increase in the number of graduates in mining programs. In addition, SME reports the industry demand for qualified graduates to enter the workforce intensifies as vacancies are created by professionals reaching retirement age.

According to SME, its guide serves as a valuable tool for mining companies and industry recruiters in evaluating candidates to fill job vacancies. It’s also used by stakeholders to track mining-related enrollment and graduation rates of U.S. schools with mining engineering curriculums.

SME is a professional nonprofit society with more than 15,000 members serving the mining, minerals and underground construction industries in more than 100 countries.

The 2016 SME Guide to Minerals and Materials Science Schools is available for purchase online.

Allison Kral

About the Author:

Allison Kral is the former senior digital media manager for North Coast Media (NCM). She completed her undergraduate degree at Ohio University where she received a Bachelor of Science in magazine journalism from the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism. She works across a number of digital platforms, which include creating e-newsletters, writing articles and posting across social media sites. She also creates content for NCM's Portable Plants magazine, GPS World magazine and Geospatial Solutions. Her understanding of the ever-changing digital media world allows her to quickly grasp what a target audience desires and create content that is appealing and relevant for any client across any platform.

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