The data in this library comes from the National Survey of Recent College Graduates. Included is information about employment numbers, major information, and the earnings of different majors. Many majors were not available before 2010, so their values have been recorded as 0 (note that this may affect the averages shown in the bar charts).

Data Dictionary

Key	List of...	Comment	Example Value
Year	Integer	The year that this report was made for.	1993
Demographics.Total	Integer	The estimated number of people awarded degrees in this major during this year.	1295598
Education.Major	String	The name of the major for these graduated students.	"Biological Sciences"
Salaries.Highest	Float	The highest recorded salary reported for employed people with this degree during this year.	999999.0
Salaries.Lowest	Float	The lowest recorded salary reported for employed people with this degree during this year.	0.0
Salaries.Mean	Float	The average (mean) recorded salary reported for employed people with this degree during this year.	160585.73
Salaries.Median	Float	The median recorded salary reported for employed people with this degree during this year.	51000.0
Salaries.Quantity	Integer	The number of salaries reported for employed people with this degree during this year.	13432
Salaries.Standard Deviation	Float	The standard deviation (which gives the amount of variance) of salaries reported for employed people with this degree during this year.	297818.25
Demographics.Ethnicity.Asians	Integer	The estimated number of people identifying as Asian that were awarded degrees in this major during this year.	84495
Demographics.Ethnicity.Minorities	Integer	The estimated number of people identifying as a minority (e.g., Black, African American, Native American) that were awarded degrees in this major during this year.	115016
Demographics.Ethnicity.Whites	Integer	The estimated number of people identifying as White that were awarded degrees in this major during this year.	1094775
Demographics.Gender.Females	Integer	The estimated number of women awarded degrees in this major during this year.	551695
Demographics.Gender.Males	Integer	The estimated number of women awarded degrees in this major during this year.	743903
Education.Degrees.Bachelors	Integer	The estimated number of bachelor degrees awarded in this for major during this year.	671374
Education.Degrees.Doctorates	Integer	The estimated number of doctoral degrees awarded in this for major during this year.	90543
Education.Degrees.Masters	Integer	The estimated number of Masters awarded in this for major during this year.	248813
Education.Degrees.Professionals	Integer	The estimated number of professional degrees awarded in this for major during this year.	284869
Employment.Employer Type.Business/Industry	Integer	The number of people with a degree in this major during this year who described their Employer Type as "Business/Industry".	669270
Employment.Employer Type.Educational Institution	Integer	The number of people with a degree in this major during this year who described their Employer Type as an "Educational Institution".	300468
Employment.Employer Type.Government	Integer	The number of people with a degree in this major during this year wh...

As of February 2023, 12.1 percent of recent college graduates who majored in Fine Arts were unemployed in the United States. 9.1 percent of recent college graduates who majored in philosophy were also unemployed.

Employment income (in 2019 and 2020) by detailed major field of study and highest certificate, diploma or degree, including work activity (full time full year, part time full year, or part year).

In an impressive increase from years past, 39 percent of women in the United States had completed four years or more of college in 2022. This figure is up from 3.8 percent of women in 1940. A significant increase can also be seen in males, with 36.2 percent of the U.S. male population having completed four years or more of college in 2022, up from 5.5 percent in 1940.

4- and 2-year colleges

In the United States, college students are able to choose between attending a 2-year postsecondary program and a 4-year postsecondary program. Generally, attending a 2-year program results in an Associate’s Degree, and 4-year programs result in a Bachelor’s Degree.

Many 2-year programs are designed so that attendees can transfer to a college or university offering a 4-year program upon completing their Associate’s. Completion of a 4-year program is the generally accepted standard for entry-level positions when looking for a job.

Earnings after college

Factors such as gender, degree achieved, and the level of postsecondary education can have an impact on employment and earnings later in life. Some Bachelor’s degrees continue to attract more male students than female, particularly in STEM fields, while liberal arts degrees such as education, languages and literatures, and communication tend to see higher female attendance.

All of these factors have an impact on earnings after college, and despite nearly the same rate of attendance within the American population between males and females, men with a Bachelor’s Degree continue to have higher weekly earnings on average than their female counterparts.

In 2023 the mean earnings of Bachelor's degree holders in the United States amounted to 86,970 U.S. dollars. People with higher education degrees tended to earn more than those without. For example, high school graduates, including those with a GED, had mean earnings of 46,720 U.S. dollars.

Characteristics and median employment income of postsecondary graduates five years after graduation, by educational qualification (Classification of programs and credentials - professional degree variant), field of study (Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) Canada 2016 - STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics and computer sciences) and BHASE (business, humanities, health, arts, social science and education) groupings), gender, age group and status of student in Canada (cross-sectional analysis).

In 2024, a record high of around 10.59 million students graduated from undergraduate programs at public colleges and universities in China. That number was more than double as high as the number of degrees earned at all levels of higher education in the United States. The vast number of graduates from Chinese universities originates from the increasing enrollment in colleges and universities across the country. Of the 10.47 million Chinese graduates of 2023, around 4.94 million earned a bachelor's degree, whereas 5.53 million earned a more practically oriented short-cycle degree. On a graduate and postgraduate level, around one million master's and doctor's degree students graduated from public colleges and universities in China in 2023. What are the popular majors? In recent years, the most favored majors among Chinese bachelor students were engineering, management, literature, and arts, while short-cycle degree students chose majors such as finance and economics, medical health, and information tschnology. Meanwhile, philosphy, history, and agriculture, as well as biolological engineering, textile, and water resources were among the least desirable subjects. However, even the popular, highly competitive fields of study do not always guarantee quick and successful employment after graduation. What are the labor market prospects for graduates? The graduate employment rate within half a year after graduation has been generally stable in China over the past seven years, exceeding 90 percent on average. Those that struggle to find a job are usually graduates from less technical, quantitative majors who often lack both practical “hard skills” and “soft skills” such as communication, critical thinking, and managerial abilities. Engineering, technology, IT and science majors top employment rates as well as secure higher-starting salaries. The average monthly salary of a university graduate in China has increased by around 70 percent in the last ten years. However, high rent and costs of living in cities like Beijing or Shanghai often force young graduates to return to their hometowns or to seek employment in the second and third tier cities.

German law graduates holding a doctorate degree can currently expect the highest average gross starting salary in the country when they enter the job market. Other degrees with good earning prospects include medicine, computer science (also with a doctorate degree), and industrial engineering. In comparison, those who studied graphics/design, humanities and social sciences are at the bottom of the starting salary food chain. Law courses among most attended Law, economics and social sciences were the subject groups seeing the highest student numbers in German universities, totaling over one million in 2023/2024. Engineering and mathematics rounded up the top three. German universities offer a variety of internationally recognized degrees, the Bachelor being the most frequently taken type of final exam. Slow yearly salary increase Among selected countries in the European Union, Germany ranks ninth in terms of average annual wages. All the same, when studying the change in average annual pay specifically in Germany during the last decade, a slow, but steady increase is visible year after year, until the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic hit in 2020. Since then, the average wage has been decreasing and in 2023 was around the same level as in 2017.

Over the past 20 years, the share of the Australian population that holds a degree at a bachelor level or above has increased by more than six times, reaching 50.8 percent in 2022. Since May of 2023, however, that number has dropped to only 32 percent. In Australia, the tertiary education sector comprises both public and private institutions. The student body is comprised of both domestic and international students. University graduate employment Domestic students make up most of the graduates within Australia. The vast majority of graduates in 2022 found full-time employment after studying, with the fields of medicine, pharmacy and rehabilitation having the highest rates of employment post graduation. Dentistry graduates earned the highest median full-time salary of recent university graduates in the country. International study landscape International students are a rapidly growing segment of Australia’s tertiary education sector. The export income from international student activities amounted to just under 36.5 billion Australian dollars in 2023. Chinese students accounted for the largest share of international student enrollments in the same period. Students completing their studies at Australian universities are attracted to the prestige of obtaining a degree at some of the best universities in the world. Moreover, graduates have the opportunity to enter the Australian labor market and to apply for a permanent visa in the country.