Salary Report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), Winter 2013 Salary Survey of new college graduate offers has just been released and it is very positive. This is the final overall report for 2012 hiring.

According to NACE, salaries for candidates rose 3.4% across all academic disciplines. The economy is adding jobs for new college graduates across the board. Five industries: Education; Professional, Scientific & Technical Services; Healthcare; Government; and Finance & Insurance added the most new grad jobs. More new college grads found jobs in education than in any other industry for a total of 444,500. The next top industry was Professional, Scientific and Technical Services adding 289,400 jobs in 2012. Healthcare and Social Assistance added 269,100 jobs.

Industries adding largest numbers of new college grads:

Education - 444,500

Professional, Scientific & Technical Services - 289,400

Healthcare - 269,100

Fed, State, & Local Government - 191,900

Finance & Insurance - 96,700

Although engineers find employment in all of these industries, they are primarily employed in Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services.

The starting salaries for engineering and computer science majors are at the top of the pay scale. The numbers are up significantly for all engineering and computer science graduates due to increasing demand.

Nationwide the 2013 over 2012 average salary results for relevant technical BS degrees found at CSUS:

Average salaries for CS new grads: +3.7% to $64,400 from 2012 average salaries

Average salaries for CE new grads: +2.5% to $57,600 from 2012 average salaries

Average salaries for EEE new grads: +3.8% to $62,300 from 2012 average salaries

Average salaries for CpE new grads: +3.8% to $70,400 from 2012 average salaries

Average salaries for CM new grads: +2.9% to $56,600 from 2012 average salaries

Average salaries for ME new grads: +4.0% to $62,900,200 from 2012 average salaries

The chart below shows the high, average, and low 2012 salaries for new/recent grads with BS or MS degrees in engineering and computer science. Salaries for CSUS graduates tend to run closer to the top of the chart below (and higher) due to the fact that Sacramento is in the high cost of living area of Northern California and students frequently graduate with major project and work experience.

Other excellent sources for salary information include http://www.glassdoor.com and http://www.salary.com

Some fields are not available due to lack of data.

Winter 2013 National Salary Data Source: National Association of Colleges and Employers Salary

Bachelors Degrees   75th Percentile Average 25th Percentile CE 68,100 57,600 46,700 CM 66,500 56,600 45,100 CpE 80,700 70,400 54,700 CS 75,100 64,400 50,400 EEE 74,100 62,300 50,500 ME 74,300 62,900 50,200 Masters Degrees   75th Percentile Average 25th Percentile CE * * * CpE * * * CS 84,000 73,700 58,200 EEE 77,500 66,100 52,100 ME 77,000 66,800 53,000 Jan 2013 * No offers were reported for statistical analysis