Class of 2012 salaries increase
April 11, 2012
A new report released by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) has found that graduates of the Class of 2012 can expect to see slightly higher starting salaries than the Class of 2011.
NACE's April 2012 Salary Survey Report revealed that the median salary for new bachelor's degree grads is up 4.5 percent to $42,569. The median salary for the Class of 2011 was $40,735.
"The overall median salary increase is the result of gains throughout most sectors," said Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director. "Even in those sectors that showed decreases in median starting salaries, the dips were very slight."
The report found that education and communications majors saw the greatest increase in starting salaries this year. Graduates with education degrees are entering the work force with a median salary of $37,423, 4.5 percent higher than the $35,828 earned by members of the Class of 2011. Those with special education degrees are expected to make even more, according to NACE.
Communications majors graduating this year are seeing a 3.8 percent increase in their median salary, climbing to $40,022 from the $38,549 earned by their Class of 2011 counterparts.
Other majors that are likely to see higher salaries this year include math, sciences, computer sciences, humanities, social sciences and business.
However, median salaries for engineering and health sciences graduates have dipped incrementally. Engineering graduates are posting a median salary of $58,581, a slight drop of 0.4 percent, and health sciences majors' median salary has dipped 0.7 percent to $43,477.
The report also identified the top-paying industries for bachelor's degree grads, regardless of their major. They include utilities companies (average starting salary of $64,400), information ($54,392), manufacturing ($53,006), companies that specialize in the management of companies and enterprises ($51,874) and finance and insurance ($51,110).
Additionally, it identified the top-hiring industries for graduates of the Class of 2012. Educational services companies are expected to hire the most Class of 2012 graduates (298,000). Other industries that will hire a lot of recent bachelor degree graduates include healthcare and social assistance (180,000), professional, scientific and technical services (153,000), finance and insurance (124,000) and manufacturing (120,000).
Recent research from the Pew Research Center (PRC) reveals that over a lifetime, college graduates will make significantly more than those without a college degree. Over the course of his or her career, a college graduate with a bachelor's degree will make more than $1.4 million dollars, according to the PRC. A high school graduate with no further education is expected to make $770,000 during the same time period.
Mothers who want to return to college to realize a dream or boost their long-term earning potential should know that paying for an education can be made more affordable by utilizing grants for parents, scholarships for mothers, single mother scholarships and other financial aid.
