Graduates in Information Sciences, Economics & Finance Buck General Dip in Pay

The year-over-year average starting salary for college graduates is down 1.3 percent, according to a new study conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). Even so, recent graduates with degrees in information sciences, economics and finance bucked the trend and saw their average pay increase. Again, and as usual, engineering grads saw the highest average starting pay out of college, but for the first time in a while, that average dipped — slightly, by 0.5 percent.

The overall starting salary offered to Class of 2010 bachelor’s degree graduates now stands at $48,661. This is down from an average of $49,307 posted last year at this time.

Accounting graduates saw their average offer dip less than 1 percent, to $48,691. Business administration graduates experienced a drop, as well: theirs fell 2.4 percent, to $43,879.

Despite the dip in starting pay across all categories of college graduates, those in several disciplines have managed to buck the trend. Chief among them are iformation science graduates, whose average starting pay actually rose by 5.7 percent this year. Following engineering grads in the uptick category are economics grads, whose average pay increased by 2.1 percent, and finance grads, whose pay increased by a nominal 0.8 percent in 2010.

In an about face, engineering grads this year are seeing a slight decrease in their average starting pay. While the number itself, at $58,970, remains the highest among all college graduates’ average starting pay, it is nevertheless a year-over-year 0.5 percent decrease.

Posted by RecruitingTrends.com on July 21, 2010. Filed under Data Watch. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry