Highest Paid College Grads

Bridget Geiran, Tower Staff
April 20, 2012
Filed under News

Upcoming graduates will average $43,000 starting salary, a 4.5 percent increase from last year, according to a survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) republished by Forbes earlier this week.

The increase should be good news for the Catholic University seniors who will be graduating and entering the work force this spring.

The survey also lists majors in order of highest salary upon graduating. Engineering ranked highest with a median of $59,000 starting salary. Second is Computer Science with a median of $56,000, followed by Business with a median of $48,000.

Meanwhile, graduates in humanities and social science have the lowest median for starting salary with $35,000. In the survey, salary differences within a major are included. For example, in engineering, graduates in computer engineering make the highest salary, a median of $68,000. Graduates of business school, who have a focus in finance, make $66,000, the highest of business majors. Within computer science, the highest paid grads are from the information sector. These graduates make a median of $64,000.

Although humanities and social science majors have the lowest starting salaries, politics majors are paid the most, a median of $38,000. For humanities grads, the education services industry hires the most of that group, and pays an average starting salary of $38,000.

According to the survey, the lowest starting salary is that of visual and performing arts majors. Their average starting salary is $26,000 and biggest employer is “retail trade”

 “The arts may not have the most financial success but it can be one of the most fulfilling careers. I don’t know many people, if any, who choose to be artists because of the financial security.” Said Catholic University sophomore performance arts major Kelly Craige.