What college degrees are commanding the highest salaries for the class of 2018?

Class of 2018 graduates earning degrees in engineering and computer science are expected to command the highest starting salaries at the bachelor’s-degree level, according to results of a new survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). According to NACE’s Winter 2018 Salary Survey report, engineering majors are projected to average $66,521, while computer science graduates are expected to average $66,005.

Those averages represent very little change from the salaries projected for Class of 2017 graduates in those fields; both are up less than one percent (See Figure 1.)

Other majors fared better in terms of projected increases in their starting salaries. Those earning degrees in the humanities are expected to see the biggest increase, with a 16.3 percent hike in salary for an average of $56,688. Social sciences graduates are expected to earn an average of $56,689 this year, up 6 percent from last year’s average. Math and science graduates are expected to earn salaries that average $61,867, a jump of 4.2 percent over last year’s average. Meanwhile, business majors saw their overall average salary projection climb 3.5 percent to $56,720.

On the other side, Class of 2018 agriculture and natural resources graduates and communications graduates are projected to earn lower average starting salaries than did their Class of 2017 counterparts. However, the decreases are minimal.

Agriculture and natural resources graduates are expected to earn an average of $53,565, which is down just 1.5 percent from last year. Similarly, the overall average starting salary projection of $51,448 for communications graduates dropped less than 1 percent from last year’s projection.

Figure 1: Average salary projection by discipline, 2018 and 2017

Winter 2018 Salary Survey, NACE.  All data are for bachelor’s degrees.

An executive summary of the Winter 2018 Salary Survey report is available on the NACE website.

Source:  National Association of Colleges and Employers