Skip to main content
Add as a preferred source on Google


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

Average salary by discipline earned by new bachelor's graduates

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

About the Author

Dian Schaffhauser is a former senior contributing editor for 1105 Media's education publications THE Journal, Campus Technology and Spaces4Learning.

Featured

  • woman speaking into microphone

    Best Practices for Designing Higher-Ed AV Environments

    Cloud-based management, interoperability, and upfront planning are helping campuses build AV infrastructure that performs at scale.

  • Neon blue security locks with a single red highlight

    AI Shifts Cybersecurity Focus from Finding Flaws to Fixing Them

    For decades, one of cybersecurity's most difficult challenges has been finding vulnerabilities before attackers do. A growing number of security professionals now say artificial intelligence is changing that equation, shifting the focus from discovering flaws to fixing them quickly enough to prevent exploitation.

  • artificial intelligence on laptop

    OpenAI to Combine AI Products into Desktop 'Superapp'

    OpenAI is reportedly developing a desktop application that would combine several of its emerging AI products into a single platform, according to reports, marking the latest step in the company's effort to transform ChatGPT from a standalone chatbot into a broader productivity and automation environment.

  • Profile silhouette of a person thoughtfully touching their chin, overlaid with transparent data visualizations and digital interface elements suggesting artificial intelligence and analytics.

    The Institutional Knowledge Shift Is Reshaping Higher Ed IT

    Higher education IT leaders are navigating a quiet but consequential transition: Experienced team members are retiring or leaving for private-sector roles, and the teams replacing them are smaller, newer, and often stretched thin. The result is a structural shift in how technology decisions are made, executed, and sustained.