Class of 2025: College grads’ salary projections
On March 11, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) pointed to some research that shows that the starting salary projections for Class of 2025 bachelor’s degree graduates are somewhat uneven. This year, projected movement in salaries ranges from a gain of 2.8% for agriculture and natural resources to a decrease of 3.6% for the social sciences.
“However, these salary projections come on the heels of employers indicating plans to hire 7.3% more graduates from the college Class of 2025 than they did from the Class of 2024, which hints at the overall health of the current job market for college graduates,” says Shawn VanDerziel, NACE’s president and chief executive officer.
Class of 2025 engineering graduates are projected to be the top paid, as their overall average is up 2.6% to $78,731 this year. (See Figure 1.) The highest-paid individual engineering majors—computer engineering ($82,565) and software engineering ($82,536)—also have the highest projected increases of the group at 6.5% and 5.8%, respectively.
Computer sciences majors also show stability in their average salary projections year over year. The overall projection for the Class of 2025 is $76,251, up 2% from last year. The individual reported majors are all projected to receive higher salaries, with increases of 1.7% for computer science majors, 1.8% for information sciences and systems majors, and 2.5% for software applications majors.
Despite a decrease of almost 2% in the salary projection for math and sciences graduates, they remain third highest-paid majors at $69,709.
Class of 2025 business graduates have an average salary projection that is 2.1% higher than last year, raising it to $65,276. Nearly all reported individual business majors have larger average salary projections.
The rise in salary projections for Class of 2025 business graduates may be reflective of their high demand. Half of the top 10 bachelor’s degrees in demand fall in the business fields, with finance majors taking the top spot. Computer science also shares the top spot, with 67.1% of total respondents reporting plans to hire both majors. (See Figure 2.)
At the master’s degree level, Class of 2025 engineering and business graduates are expected to see salaries climb 12.5% and 3.1%, respectively. This is welcome news as last year both saw reduced average salary projections—engineering graduates by 3.7% and business graduates by 6.2%. (See Figure 3.)
Engineering graduates top this year’s list of average starting salaries with an overall projection of $94,086. Meanwhile, the average salary projection for business degree graduates at the master’s degree level is expected to rise to $77,632.
At $84,960, the projected average salary for computer sciences majors remains flat, ticking down less than 1% from last year. However, this group of majors remains most in-demand, as nearly one-quarter of the total respondents plan to hire them. (See Figure 4.)
About the Winter 2025 Salary Survey report: NACE’s Winter 2025 Salary Survey report contains annual salary projections for Class of 2025 college graduates. The figures reported are for base salaries only and do not include bonuses, commissions, fringe benefits, or overtime rates.
The report provides the detailed salary projections by academic major and degree level, along with breakouts by both industry and geographic region. Data contained in the report were obtained by surveying NACE employer members from October 7, 2024, through November 30, 2024. A total of 158 surveys were returned—a 19% response rate.
The Winter 2025 Salary Survey report—including an executive summary—is available on NACEWeb.
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(Source: NACE)
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today
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