STEM Grads Expected to Be Top Paid in Class of 2017

When it comes to the top projected starting salaries for Class of 2017 graduates, the STEM disciplines still rule, according to a recent report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
Employers responding to NACE’s Winter 2017 Salary Survey project that average starting salaries for engineering, computer science, and math and sciences graduates will be the highest among Class of 2017 graduates earning bachelor’s degrees.
Although these technical majors are on top, employers anticipate boosting the starting salaries from last year across all categories of majors in this report, with average increases ranging from 2% to 15%.
The projected average starting salary for engineering majors overall is $66,097, almost 2% more than that for Class of 2016 engineering graduates.
The catalyst for this nudge is that the projected average salaries for all of the individual engineering majors exceed $60,000.
Graduates earning computer science and math and sciences degrees are expected to see greater gains than their engineering classmates.
The salary projection for graduates earning computer science degrees is $65,540, which is up almost 7% from last year.
Likewise, at $59,368, the average salary projection for math and science degrees has jumped 7.8% from last year.
The average salary projection for Class of 2017 business majors is $54,803, an increase of nearly 5% over last year’s average.
Meanwhile, although the projected starting salaries for Class of 2017 social sciences and communications graduates are down the list in terms of the highest-paid majors, they do have the highest projected increases in average starting salary at 15% and 10%, respectively.
The average projected salary for Class of 2017 social sciences graduates has climbed to $53,459, while employers plan to pay communications graduates an average of $51,925.
Salaries for humanities graduates are also projected to be on the rise, although not as dramatically.
The average salary projection of $48,733 for the Class of 2017 is up 5.8% over last year’s average projection.

Projected Average Salaries by Discipline, Bachelor’s Degrees

Source: Winter 2017 Salary Survey, National Association of Colleges and Employers