Are starting salaries for college grads leveling off?
On February 15, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) reported on the results of a new survey that the agency conducted which shows that salaries for new college graduates earning bachelor’s degrees – especially those in the traditionally higher-paying disciplines – seem to be leveling off.
Employers responding to NACE’s Winter 2023 Salary Survey expect to pay Class of 2023 graduates earning bachelor’s degrees in both the engineering ($74,405) and math and sciences ($67,199) disciplines average salaries that are just 0.7% higher than they projected last year. (See Figure 1.)
Meanwhile, the average starting salary for bachelor’s degree graduates studying computer science is expected to fall by 4.0% compared to a year ago. Despite this drop, among the fields chronicled in Salary Survey, computer science graduates are projected to have the second highest average salary offer ($72,843), after engineering graduates.
“The drop in starting salary for computer science majors is likely the result of recent recalibration among tech companies, which have traditionally offered top dollar,” explains Shawn VanDerziel, NACE Executive Director.
“In terms of starting salary, this effectively puts these graduates back where their Class of 2021 counterparts were.”
Still, computer science graduates are in high demand from other industries. In fact, two-thirds of employers taking part in the survey expect to hire computer science graduates. Only finance majors are expected to draw more interest. (See Figure 2.)
Other disciplines—business, agriculture and natural resources, communications, and humanities—are expected to see increases in their average starting salary ranging from 2.3% to 4.8%, while social sciences is the only other discipline projected to experience a dip in starting salary.
About the Winter 2023 Salary Survey report: The Winter 2023 Salary Survey report contains annual salary projections for Class of 2023 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 5, 2022, through December 5, 2022. A total of 170 surveys were returned – a 19.5% response rate. An executive summary is available on NACEWeb.
Posted by Richard Webster, Ace News Today / Follow Richard on Facebook, Twitter & Instagram
(Cover photo, “Is a college degree worth it?” Image credit: YouTube)
