Research

STEM Degrees Earn Highest Starting Salaries for New Bachelor’s Grads

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 02/20/19

Graduates who achieved their bachelor's degrees in STEM subjects will be the highest earners for starting salaries for the class of 2018. That projection came from a survey undertaken by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). In the top three earning spots were:

• Engineering, with an average starting salary of $69,188;
• Computer science, $67,539; and
• Math and sciences, $62,177.

Those amounts, reported in the NACE "Winter 2019 Salary Survey," were for base salaries only, excluding bonuses, commissions, fringe benefits and overtime rates. Data was collected from 186 surveys submitted by NACE employer members between August and December 2018.

The news is overall upbeat for people new to the job market. These graduates will, for the most part, see small bumps in their average starting salaries compared to what they were last year.

The survey also found that those graduating in 2018 would enjoy a 16.6 percent increase in hiring compared to those who finished their schooling in the previous year.

Average salary by discipline earned by new bachelor's graduates

Source: "Winter 2019 Salary Survey" from National Association of Colleges and Employers