Key points from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) report on graduate starting salaries.
Recently, NACE released a report documenting trends in graduate starting salaries. According to the report, NACE found that there has been little growth in the average starting salary since 2015. In fact, annual growth has been stunted, remaining at or below 1%.
Certain fields have actually seen a decline in starting salaries. Notably, the starting salary for computer science graduates was down 1.7% in 2018 following several years of growth. Graduates in health sciences saw a decrease of 3.3%, and business graduates saw a decrease of 0.8%.
However, some fields did see increases in their average starting salaries. For instance, social sciences graduates saw a small increase of 0.2%, while mathematics and statistics graduates saw the most significant increase at 1.8%.
The report also captured the difficulty that graduates had finding a well-paying job in their field of study. For instance, the report notes that 43% of individuals with an undergraduate degree are underemployed in their first year out of college. Two-thirds of these graduates were still underemployed five years later.
However, NACE notes that securing a bachelor’s degree is still a good investment for students. People with bachelor’s degrees fill more than half of the positions that pay at least $35,000. Additionally, the average student is able to recoup the money spent on their degree in about eight years in the workforce. Over their lifetime, graduates will earn hundreds of thousands of dollars more than someone with an associate’s degree or less.
These are some of the key takeaways from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) report on graduate starting salaries. Looking for a consulting firm with experience working with salary, legal, and other human resources issues? Then don’t hesitate to contact the professionals at McKnight Associates, Inc. We are ready to offer you hands-on human resources consulting for colleges, universities, medical centers, and organizations of all sizes