April 9, 2010

CNNMoney.com (4/9, Yousuf) reports, "College students gearing up to graduate this spring are likely to make less on their first job than those who got their degree last year," a report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers indicates. "Average salary offers to 2010 bachelor's degree candidates are down 1.7% to $47,673, compared to $48,515 last year," according to the report, which also found that "students seeking liberal arts degrees may face the hardest blow." However, "not all grads will be making less." NACE employment information manager Andrea Koncz noted, "Students graduating with more technical degrees are in higher demand." For example, "for engineering students, initial pay offers are 1.2% higher at $59,149."

The Wall Street Journal (4/9, Murray) noted that, among engineering graduates, electrical engineers saw the largest increase, around three percent, followed by chemical and civil engineering graduates. Graduates with computer-related degrees increased by almost six percent.

The BusinessWeek (4/8, Lavelle) "Getting In" blog reports, "Finance and accounting majors fared fairly well-with average salary offers increasing 1.6% to $50,546 for the former and 0.4% to $48,575 for the latter." However, "computer science majors and engineering students both did far better. In fact, the only major that business students can claim to beat hands down is liberal arts, where grads saw their average salary offer drop by 8.9% to $33,540."