Thoughts on survey of colleges with highest salaries after graduation

[Mama Geek]

One of the things that I have noticed is that most of these colleges are in high cost of living areas and I also wonder about the percentage of people who major in degrees that have higher pay to start with.  I know that some of it is based on prestige of the schools like Yale, Harvard, etc.  It would be interesting to see a breakdown of majors and a breakdown of where the graduates tend to settle down and work.

 

 

http://www2.forbes.com/leadership/colleges-with-highest-salaries-after-graduation/?utm_campaign=Colleges-Highest-Salaries-Graduation&utm_source=yahoo-gemini&utm_medium=Referral

[maize]

Also, is this people with only a bachelor's degree or are they including those who go on to obtain graduate and professional degrees?

[Nan in Mass]

Some of the colleges are tech schools where the starting salaries are high for a BS and majors with typically low starting salaries (early childhood education, for example) are not offered. Some schools go to great effort to prepare their students for the working, placing them in coops and internships, giving them interview and resume coaching, and bringing in many companies to interview their seniors. These schools have more students who are hired in their field as professionals rather than continuing the summer job they have had since high school. Some schools encourage alumni to hire recent grads and have really good connections to higher paying jobs. Some schools are in locations where there are many high paying jobs, for example a high tech area or a financial area, making it easy for the school to have connections with the working world and place their students. All those things can make a difference, I think.

 

Nan

[Guest]

I thought it was interesting, but I also think that there are a couple of other things that an individual would have to weigh in:

 

1.  How much debt will be acquired to get that college education?  That is the destination for a lot of those high-salary dollars--debt repayment.  

2.  How far will that high salary go where you have to live to earn it?  There is a big difference between a $90,000 salary earned in a high CoL area vs. a lower CoL area.

3.  What is the top range of the salary for the degree you get?  I remember research showing that engineers earned more starting salary than liberal arts majors, and earned more for the first 5 or 6 years.  But the engineers also capped out much sooner, and the liberal arts majors who got career-type jobs had caught up within about 5-6 years, and they didn't cap out for a MUCH longer time.  (Note that this has to be a liberal arts major who gets a career-type job--not a barista part-time job).  

 

As always, these kinds of pronouncements based on statistics have to be seen as a survey of a population, and not a prescription for what is true or right for any one individual.  

 

(An aside:  when we were looking at colleges, we found a school focused on my son's area of interest which had annual tuition and fees of around $20,000.  The average starting salary of a graduate, based on 95% job placement of the entire graduating class within 6 months, was $65,000.  The cap was very high over the time of a career.  They structured the classes so it took only 2.5 years to get a BS, so the total cost of tuition and fees was about $50,000.  That seemed a really good trade-off to me, especially with the high job placement rate.  When I look at one of his classmates, who attends a school on this list, it looks even better.  Total cost of his tuition and fees will be $250,000, with a median starting salary in the $90,000 range.  It will take him a long time to get to par value...and of course, he might do better than my son would over time...but there is a much greater risk for this other young man.  I don't fret about it because what works for one kid might not be the same for another kid, family resources coming into play and so on.  I am only using the example to make a point...)

 

[maize]

I thought it was interesting, but I also think that there are a couple of other things that an individual would have to weigh in:

 

1. How much debt will be acquired to get that college education? That is the destination for a lot of those high-salary dollars--debt repayment.

2. How far will that high salary go where you have to live to earn it? There is a big difference between a $90,000 salary earned in a high CoL area vs. a lower CoL area.

3. What is the top range of the salary for the degree you get? I remember research showing that engineers earned more starting salary than liberal arts majors, and earned more for the first 5 or 6 years. But the engineers also capped out much sooner, and the liberal arts majors who got career-type jobs had caught up within about 5-6 years, and they didn't cap out for a MUCH longer time. (Note that this has to be a liberal arts major who gets a career-type job--not a barista part-time job).

 

As always, these kinds of pronouncements based on statistics have to be seen as a survey of a population, and not a prescription for what is true or right for any one individual.

 

(An aside: when we were looking at colleges, we found a school focused on my son's area of interest which had annual tuition and fees of around $20,000. The average starting salary of a graduate, based on 95% job placement of the entire graduating class within 6 months, was $65,000. The cap was very high over the time of a career. They structured the classes so it took only 2.5 years to get a BS, so the total cost of tuition and fees was about $50,000. That seemed a really good trade-off to me, especially with the high job placement rate. When I look at one of his classmates, who attends a school on this list, it looks even better. Total cost of his tuition and fees will be $250,000, with a median starting salary in the $90,000 range. It will take him a long time to get to par value...and of course, he might do better than my son would over time...but there is a much greater risk for this other young man. I don't fret about it because what works for one kid might not be the same for another kid, family resources coming into play and so on. I am only using the example to make a point...)

I wanna know what school this was that you looked at!

[Arcadia]

The article is for earnings 10 years after graduation. Not the earnings of a fresh graduate.

 

My hubby and I graduated the same year from the same college in engineering. He went on to engineering (technical) jobs while I went on to engineering (management) jobs. My pay raises and pay ceiling was much higher. My pay packet was higher than hubby's before I quit working. If I did not quit, there is a very high possibility my pay would be double his at 10 years after graduation.

 

Quite a lot of my lawyer friends are self employed after less than 10 years and generally making a lot more than same age engineers. Teachers are relatively well paid here because of the high COL.

[Guest]

I wanna know what school this was that you looked at!

Neumont University, Salt Lake City.  It's all about computer science...that's it.  And rather than layering a New Discipline on an older model meant for classical higher education, or the standard university fare, they focus it on computer science.  And they have projects and longer classes, so the requirements are met in a shorter time.  It's a very interesting model and school and my dh and son visited it in my son's senior year.  Thing is, he could go there this fall and graduate one year "behind" his class!  LOL.  He won't though.  

 

We have a major computer science school near us, DigiPen--it takes 5 years to get the program done, and there is a very high burnout rate, the tuition is a lot more, and the placement isn't as good.  That said, DigiPen is a good school for the very, very focused.  

 

My son ended up not going, and has found his feet thanks to the help of a caring and super intelligent mentor.  My son is now part owner of a software startup.  It's not the path I would have chosen, and he still has to make some money to survive on his own, but he is on a good path.  Likely, he will be OK, and at any rate, the ROI is good...room and board, no tuition.  LOL.  

[maize]

Neumont University, Salt Lake City.  It's all about computer science...that's it.  And rather than layering a New Discipline on an older model meant for classical higher education, or the standard university fare, they focus it on computer science.  And they have projects and longer classes, so the requirements are met in a shorter time.  It's a very interesting model and school and my dh and son visited it in my son's senior year.  Thing is, he could go there this fall and graduate one year "behind" his class!  LOL.  He won't though.  

 

We have a major computer science school near us, DigiPen--it takes 5 years to get the program done, and there is a very high burnout rate, the tuition is a lot more, and the placement isn't as good.  That said, DigiPen is a good school for the very, very focused.  

 

My son ended up not going, and has found his feet thanks to the help of a caring and super intelligent mentor.  My son is now part owner of a software startup.  It's not the path I would have chosen, and he still has to make some money to survive on his own, but he is on a good path.  Likely, he will be OK, and at any rate, the ROI is good...room and board, no tuition.  LOL.  

 

 

Oh, thanks for the info! This is not far from other schools we are considering but I had never heard of it before.

[gardenmom5]

One of the things that I have noticed is that most of these colleges are in high cost of living areas and I also wonder about the percentage of people who major in degrees that have higher pay to start with.  I know that some of it is based on prestige of the schools like Yale, Harvard, etc.  It would be interesting to see a breakdown of majors and a breakdown of where the graduates tend to settle down and work.

 

 

http://www2.forbes.com/leadership/colleges-with-highest-salaries-after-graduation/?utm_campaign=Colleges-Highest-Salaries-Graduation&utm_source=yahoo-gemini&utm_medium=Referral

 

col is definitely one factor.

 

I think a much bigger factor in determining starting income is what is their major.   what are their goals?

 

for SOME majors, the big companies do look at more prestigious schools/programs for recruiting.  but there are comparable programs at state schools.  e.g. Indiana has a music program comparable to Julliard - for a fraction of the cost.

 

know your major, know what schools excel in that major.

 

there are excellent schools even in lower col areas -  but the school may still be very pricey.