The results are in. News21 has released the alumni report update for its 2009 fellows.

Of the 94 fellows that completed the program, 52 (55.3 percent) are working full time.’ This includes three freelancers/independent journalists who report full-time work. Of the 52 full-time workers, 87 percent report working for media companies or in communications jobs.

Twelve (12.7 percent) are working part time, 22 (23.4 percent) are still in school, seven (7.4 percent) are still looking for work and one is not currently seeking employment.

Compared to the Annual Survey of Journalism & Mass Communication Graduates by Lee Becker, with the most recent study in 2008, News21 students have had more success in finding full time jobs than other journalism graduates.

For the comparison between the two studies to be accurate, only News21 students who have graduated (76 students) are included.

Here are the results.

The Becker Survey shows that 60.4 percent of journalism graduates have found full time employment, while News21 results show that 68.4 percent of graduates found full time employment.

Of those surveyed by Lee Becker, only 50 percent are working in communications jobs, while 86 percent of News21 graduates are in communications jobs.

As one can see, News21 graduates perform significantly better than the national average when it comes to employment, especially in communications jobs.