BETHLEHEM, PA –Despite negative trends in many parts of the economy and the general economic gloom reported in the national media, the college Class of 2008 ended the year on a positive note, according to a results of a new survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).
Survey responses revealed that 94 percent of all disciplines had increases to their average starting salary offers. In fact, the average starting salary offer to all college graduates in the Fall 2008 Salary Survey is up 7.6 percent to $49,224.
“One force driving the overall increase in the average salary offer to all college graduates is the strong demand for and low supply of technical graduates,” says Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director.
For example, the average salary offer made to this year’s group of computer and information sciences graduates is up from $51,992 to $58,677—a healthy 12.9 percent increase. In addition to demand for these graduates, the offers made by computer and electronics products manufacturers may have contributed to the large increase; these employers made a fair number of salary offers that exceeded $70,000.
Falling in line with computer and information sciences graduates are engineering graduates, another collection of highly sought-after candidates. The average salary offer to these graduates rose 6.6 percent, from $53,710 to $57,250. The average salary offer to chemical engineering graduates grew by 7.7 percent to $63,773. The news was also good for computer engineering graduates, whose average salary offer topped out at $60,280, a 7.8 percent increase.
But graduates in the technical disciplines weren’t alone in commanding higher starting salaries.
As a group, business disciplines posted increases across the board, and the overall average salary offer to these majors was up 5.7 percent over last year’s average of $44,287 to $46,800. Business administration/management majors saw a solid increase of 6.7 percent to their average salary offer, raising it from $43,256 to $46,171, and economics majors saw a 6.9 percent increase to their average salary offer, which now stands at $51,062. Meanwhile, the average salary offer to accounting majors peaked for the year with an increase of 3.7 percent to $48,020.
Similarly, graduates in the liberal arts disciplines fared well. As a group, liberal arts grads realized a 12.2 percent increase in their average offer, raising it from $32,717 to $36,715. Within specific disciplines, English majors posted an 11.1 percent increase, raising their average offer to $35,453. Visual and performing arts graduates also saw a double-digit increase to their average salary offer, which rose 16.2 percent to $35,073.
NACE will release hiring projections for the college of Class of 2009 in the in mid-September and the first report on starting salary offers to the Class of 2009 in January.
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About Salary Survey: Salary Survey is a quarterly report of starting salary offers to new college graduates in 70 disciplines at the bachelor's degree level. The survey compiles data from college and university career services offices nationwide. Salary Survey is issued in Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall, with the Fall issue serving as the year-end report. (Salaries reported in this press release reflect offers to bachelor’s degree candidates.)
About NACE: Since 1956, the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) has been the leading source of information about the employment of college graduates. For more information, visit www.naceweb.org. NACE maintains a virtual press room for the media at www.naceweb.org/press/. Press releases are available online at www.naceweb.org and by RSS feed: See www.naceweb.org/rss/default.htm.
CONTACT: Andrea Koncz, ext. 121, Kevin Gray, ext. 139, 800/544-5272 or 610/868-1421
E-MAIL: akoncz@naceweb.org or kgray@naceweb.org
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