The top-paying industries for university graduates
Wednesday, 30 June 2021
Most university graduates are just happy if they never have to sit through another exam.
But after news that local IT graduates were being offered jobs in Australia with a starting salary of $215,000, some students may be second-guessing their chosen degree.
Here are the areas of study that offer recent graduates the most lucrative salaries in the workforce.
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IT:
Coming out on top is IT.
Graduates with a bachelor’s degree in this field can expect an average salary of $65,000, according to data from the Ministry of Education.
The figure is a full $10,000 higher than the average graduate salary of $55,000, and the pay rises can keep coming as you progress through the ranks.
Trade Me said that in its most recent workforce survey, the five highest-paid jobs advertised on the site were all in IT.
Salaries offered in the top five ranged from $129,485 to $148,582.
The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment said the average cost of a bachelor’s degree in IT was $20,500 over three years, and the average income in the sector $88,100.
Three years after completing their degrees, 75 per cent of IT graduates were employed in their chosen field.
Health:
Those with a medical degree came in second with an average starting salary of $64,000, although the Ministry of Education cautioned that data covering a wide range of jobs could mask big differences.
Within the health bracket, medicine, veterinary, dentistry, and pharmacy graduates earned more than 30 per cent more than nursing, rehabilitation-related jobs, and public health graduates.
To get a medicine degree students have to spend on average $77,000, more than double the average student fees.
Graduates could expect their salaries to quickly rise early in their careers. The median salary for medical studies honours students after three years was $107,000, MBIE data showed.
Three years after completing their degrees, 93 per cent of medical graduates were employed in their field.
Engineering:
The third-highest pay was found in engineering where graduates could expect to earn $63,000.
MBIE puts the average cost of this degree at $22,900 to $30,500 over three to four years’ study.
Like most industries, the salary of engineers increased with seniority, with MBIE estimating the income for general managers of engineering firms at $180,000.
MBIE found that three years after completing their degrees, 81 per cent of engineering graduates were employed in their field.
Business:
In fourth place is business, with an average graduate salary of $59,000.
Graduates of banking, finance and related degrees get higher salaries at $65,000.
The average graduate salary for an economist is $57,000,, with an estimated average income for those settled in their career of $121,100.
Sixty-five per cent of economics graduates were employed in their field, according to MBIE.
Creative Arts:
At the bottom of the list was creative arts, whose average graduate salary came in at $47,000.
The lowest paid of these were performing artists, who had an estimated average income of $34,100.
After graduation 59 per cent of people with performing arts degrees found employment in their industry.