As of the 2023/24 academic year, graduates from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had a starting salary of 110,200 U.S. dollars, and a mid-career salary of 196,900 U.S. dollars. Top universities in the United States One of the top universities in the United States, Harvey Mudd College, is located in Claremont, California. Not only do graduates earn a high salaries after graduation, they also pay the most. In the academic year of 2020-2021, Harvey Mudd College was one of the most expensive school by total annual cost. The best university in the United States in 2021 belonged to the University of California, Berkeley. The Ivy League The Ivy League is a group of eight private universities in the Northeastern United States. It is not only a collegiate athletic conference, but also a group of highly respected academic institutions. They are usually regarded as the best eight universities in the United States and the world. They are extremely selective with their admissions process. However, these universities are extremely expensive to attend. Despite the high price tag, students who graduate from Princeton University have the highest early career salary out of all Ivy League attendees in 2021. This is compared to the overall expected starting salaries of recent college graduates across the United States, which was less than 35,000 U.S. dollars.

College Majors and their Graduates

Job Opportunities, Salaries and Gender Disparities

By FiveThirtyEight [source]

About this dataset

This repository contains a comprehensive selection of lavish data and processing scripts behind the articles, graphics, and interactive experiences generated by FiveThirtyEight. With this dataset, you'll have the power to explore college programs and their graduates like never before and create stories of your own! Whether you use it to check our work or craft your own powerful visuals, we would absolutely love to know if you found it useful. Under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License and MIT License respectively, our data is available for anyone who chooses to use it. Let us know how our resources turned out at

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Featured Notebooks

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Research Ideas

• Create an interactive comparison tool for researching college majors and their earning potential, so that prospective students can make informed decisions about what to study.
• Analyze the proportions of male and female graduates across different majors to uncover gender disparities in higher education.
• Explore the correlations between major categories, average salaries earned by graduates from specific major categories, unemployment rates for those with specific majors and more – to identify trends in job opportunities for certain specialties of study

Acknowledgements

If you use this dataset in your research, please credit the original authors. Data Source

License

License: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0) - Public Domain Dedication No Copyright - You can copy, modify, distribute and perform the work, even for commercial purposes, all without asking permission. See Other Information.

Columns

File: majors-list.csv | Column name | Description | |:-------------------|:----------------------------------------------------| | FOD1P | First-level division of the field of study (String) | | Major | The specific major of the field of study (String) | | Major_Category | The broader category of the field of study (String) |

File: recent-grads.csv | Column name | Description | |:-------------------------|:-------------------------------------------------------------------------------| | Major | The specific major of the field of study (String) | | Rank | The rank of the major in terms of popularity (Integer) | | Major_code | The code associated with the major (Integer) | | Major_category | The category of the major (String) | | Total | The total number of students in the major (Integer) | | Sample_size | The sample size of the major (Integer) | | Men | The number of male students in the major (Integer) | | Women | The number of female students in the major (Integer) | | ShareWomen | The percentage of female students in the major (Float) | | Employed | The number of employed graduates from the major (Integer) | | Full_time | The number of full-time employed graduates from the major (Integer) | | Part_time | The number of part-time employed graduates from the major (Integer) | | Full_time_year_round | The number of full-time year-round employed graduates from the major (Integer) | | Unemployed | The number of unemployed graduates from the major (Integer) | | Unemployment_rate | The unemployment rate of graduates from the major (Float) | | Median | The median salary of graduates from the major (Integer) | | P25th | The 25th percentile salary of graduates from the major (Integer) | | P75th | The 75th percentile salary of graduates from the major (Integer) | | College_jobs | The number of college jobs held by graduates from the major...

See notice below about this dataset

This dataset provides the average earnings by student group per district.  Wage records are obtained from the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) using a secure, anonymized matching process with limitations. For details on the process and suppression rules, please visit the Employment and Earnings of High School Graduates dashboard.

This dataset is one of three containing the same data that is also published in the Employment and Earnings of High School Graduates dashboard: Average Earnings by Student Group Average Earnings by Industry College and Career Outcomes

2025 Update on DESE Data on Employment and Earnings 

The data link between high school graduates and future earnings makes it possible to follow students beyond high school and college into the workforce, enabling long-term evaluation of educational programs using workforce outcomes.

While DESE has published these data in the past, as of June 2025 we are temporarily pausing updates due to an issue conducting the link that was brought to our attention in 2023 by a team of researchers. The issue impacts the earnings information for students who never attended a postsecondary institution or who only attended private or out-of-state colleges or universities, beginning with the 2017 high school graduation cohort, with growing impact in each successive high school graduation cohort.

The issue does not impact the earnings information for students who attended a Massachusetts public institution of higher education, and earnings data for those students will continue to be updated.

Once a solution is found, the past cohorts of data with low match rates will be updated. DESE and partner agencies are exploring linking strategies to maximize the utility of the information.

More detailed information can be found in the attached memo provided by the research team from the Annenberg Institute. We thank them for calling this issue to our attention.

The National Survey of College Graduates is a repeated cross-sectional biennial survey that provides data on the nation's college graduates, with a focus on those in the science and engineering workforce. This survey is a unique source for examining the relationship of degree field and occupation in addition to other characteristics of college-educated individuals, including work activities, salary, and demographic information.

US wages for college majors

It includes data on specific college majors and their median earnings early in their career along with mid level in their career. The data also includes unemployment and underemployment rates for each college major.

Unemployment and Underemployment rates

This data also contains the unemployment and underemployment rates over the last few years in the United States for recent college graduates along with college graduates overall.

Wages

Median annual wages for those holding a high school diploma, along with the 25th median and 75th percentile annual wages for those holding a bachelor's degree.

This data set was collected from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. https://www.newyorkfed.org/

In an impressive increase from years past, 40.1 percent of women in the United States had completed four years or more of college in 2024. This figure is up from 3.8 percent of women in 1940. A significant increase can also be seen in males, with 37.1 percent of the U.S. male population having completed four years or more of college in 2024, 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.

See notice below about this dataset

This dataset provides the number of graduates who enrolled in each type of postsecondary education per district.

Wage records are obtained from the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) using a secure, anonymized matching process with limitations. For details on the process and suppression rules, please visit the Employment and Earnings of High School Graduates dashboard.

This dataset is one of three containing the same data that is also published in the Employment and Earnings of High School Graduates dashboard: Average Earnings by Student Group Average Earnings by Industry College and Career Outcomes

List of Outcomes

• Total Postsecondary Enrollment
• In-State Public 2-Year
• In-State Public 4-Year
• In-State Private
• Out-of-State
• Total Employed
• Total Missing

The data link between high school graduates and future earnings makes it possible to follow students beyond high school and college into the workforce, enabling long-term evaluation of educational programs using workforce outcomes.

While DESE has published these data in the past, as of June 2025 we are temporarily pausing updates due to an issue conducting the link that was brought to our attention in 2023 by a team of researchers. The issue impacts the earnings information for students who never attended a postsecondary institution or who only attended private or out-of-state colleges or universities, beginning with the 2017 high school graduation cohort, with growing impact in each successive high school graduation cohort.

The issue does not impact the earnings information for students who attended a Massachusetts public institution of higher education, and earnings data for those students will continue to be updated.

Once a solution is found, the past cohorts of data with low match rates will be updated. DESE and partner agencies are exploring linking strategies to maximize the utility of the information.

More detailed information can be found in the attached memo provided by the research team from the Annenberg Institute. We thank them for calling this issue to our attention.

Estimated gross annual earnings quartiles for postsecondary graduates working full time at the time of the interview are presented by the province of study, the level of study and gender. Estimates are available at five-year intervals.

German law graduates holding a doctorate degree can currently expect the ******* 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 ****** of the starting salary food chain. Law courses among most attended Law, economics and social sciences were the subject groups seeing the ******* student numbers in German universities, totaling over *** 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 ***** 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.

In 2021, for college degree holders, product manager has the highest salaries in comparison to other entry-level tech jobs in the United States, bringing in an average salary of ******* U.S. dollars annually. Social media/community manager positions are the least lucrative tech entry jobs, with an annual wage of ****** U.S. dollars.

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).

Retrospect on school and learning conditions of college graduates of the University and Technical College of Munich and judgement on current professional situation.

Topics: 1. General information on social and financial situation: see Demography.

1. School and college education: city size of cities where school was attended; type of school; evaluation of the higher school regarding skills provided; assessment of social class of family at the time of attending higher school; point in time of personal decision or parents´ desire for taking up university studies; length of temporal interruption between high school graduation and studies as well as reasons for this interruption; most important criteria for the choice of college city (scale); faculty or subject area; intellectual interest besides personal field of specialization; continuity or interruption of studies; general judgement on time of studies and skills learned (scale); alternatives to university education; expected influence of size, location and image of the university on one´s own occupational chances; certainty of the profession idea during studies as well as reasons for uncertainty; professional alternatives considered; interest in acquisition of a higher university degree (doctorate, Habilitation); taking up further studies; length of interruption between examination and supplemental studies; type of activity exercised in this time; occupational activities during the second study; assumed professional or social advantages of a higher university degree; assumed advantages of a college graduate compared to professional colleagues without college education; assessment of the necessity of personal further education measures in the future; judgement on significance of selected final examinations or tests on general social position and professional career; point in time of decision for current professional career.

2. Professional situation: profession or ideas about future profession area and the desired professional position; length and type of activity; company size; status in profession; change of job and occupation as well as assessment of probability of future changes; assessment of significance of special knowledge or all-round education for one´s own professional position; judgement on practice-orientation of university education; self-assessment of career chances; atmosphere at work; most important factors for one´s own choice of profession and job (scales); most important employer expectations in selecting personnel (scale); assessment of decisive criteria in personally being hired (scale); assessment of influence of professional experience and achievement-orientation on career development; significance of type of college for professional advancement; salary classification due to age or achievement; assessment of future opportunities to earn for graduates; occupational future expectations; conduct with loyality conflicts with employer; importance of selected goals in life (scale); life and job satisfaction.

Demography: age (classified); sex; marital status; income; city size; state; school education and type of college degree of father or mother or spouse; occupational position of father or mother; annual income of father or mother or spouse (classified); employment of mother or spouse; estimate of annual income in 10 years; receipt of scholarships or loans; receipt of financial support by parents; living in a group sharing a residence; personal share and share of spouse in total family annual income.

A comprehensive dataset of top colleges for Green Card sponsorships in 2025, including salary data, petition trends, and employer insights. Updated annually with the latest data on Green Card sponsorship trends and employer behavior.

Higher Education Wages

Pennsylvania's Employee Salaries

By Education [source]

About this dataset

This dataset contains a comprehensive look at the salaries earned by employees within Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education for 2013. Understand the market trends and value of positions held within this system to help students prepare for their future career aspirations as well as empower employers with detailed data. This is an essential piece to have when looking into what fair compensation looks like in higher education and obtaining important insight regarding salary negotiation, wage structure, and workforce optimization

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Featured Notebooks

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How to use the dataset

Welcome to this dataset on wage disparities in Pennsylvania's higher education system! This dataset contains salary information for employees of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education (PASSHE) in 2013. You can use this information to uncover trends and differences in pay between different universities, departments, and job positions.

Getting Started: - Open the file “2013_Salaries_Pennsylvania_State_System_of_Higher_Education.csv” and explore its contents. This dataset is composed of 8 columns: Name, Base Pay, University or Office, Position, Gender/Race/Ethnicity, Furlough Reduction % Reduction Days Number Total Pay Contract Type Max Probationary Step Payscale Group Admission Type Total Headcount Full-Time Employees Part-time employees and position code. - To begin your analysis you can start by identifying basic statistics about the data such as averages or counts for each column of data you are interested in such as salary range by university or office and job title groups such as deans versus other staff members . - Next identify which universities pay their staff the highest salaries? What kind of differences do you see across schools? Once you have identified key trends look into potential differences within each university using gender/race/ethnicity filters to identify wage disparities across demographic groups since unfortunately wage discrepancy still exists today even when controlling for variables like education experience seniority etc - Finally create graphs tables etc that present your findings effectively so that policy makers HR departments other stakeholders have a better insight into what changes need to be implemented so all personnel are treated equally with fair wages regardless of background! Good luck!

Research Ideas

• Analyze salary gaps between genders and positions to identify possible pay inequality, and to create true diversity in the workplace.
• Track changes in base salaries over time for individual jobs or trends throughout a university/office over years.
• Compare average annual salaries across different universities/offices within the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education; this information could be used to help inform decisions about where to work/study for prospective faculty and students alike!

Acknowledgements

If you use this dataset in your research, please credit the original authors. Data Source

License

See the dataset description for more information.

Columns

File: 2013_Salaries_Pennsylvania_State_System_of_Higher_Education.csv | Column name | Description | |:-------------------------|:----------------------------------------------------------| | Name | The name of the employee. (String) | | Base Pay | The base salary of the employee. (Numeric) | | University or Office | The university or office the employee works for. (String) | | Position | The position of the employee. (String) |

Acknowledgements

If you use this dataset in your research, please credit the original authors. If you use this dataset in your research, please credit Education.

This dashboard displays longitudinal wage outcomes of Massachusetts students by district, including College and Career Outcomes, Average Annual Earnings by Student Group, and Average Annual Earnings by Industry.

Wage records are obtained from the Massachusetts Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA) using a secure, anonymized matching process with limitations. For details on the process and suppression rules, please refer to the Employment and Earnings of High School Graduates dashboard itself.

The data in the dashboard is also published across three datasets in the E2C Hub: Average Earnings by Student Group Average Earnings by Industry College and Career Outcomes

According to a survey carried out between April 2022 and March 2023, 65 percent of graduates from public and private universities in Mexico earned less than 8,001 Mexican pesos during their first job, while only 6.9 percent got a salary higher than 15,001 Mexican pesos.

Average earnings, by age group and highest level of education, from the 2016 Census of Population.

We only select DWAs that are ranked in top 50 in future. The full list of predicted DWAs can be found in the same Github folder.

In 2024, a record high of around ***** 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 ***** million Chinese graduates of 2023, around **** million earned a bachelor's degree, whereas **** million earned a more practically oriented short-cycle degree. On a graduate and postgraduate level, around *** 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 *********************************************, while short-cycle degree students chose majors such as *****************************************************************. Meanwhile, ****************************************************************************************************** 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 ** 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. ********************************************** top employment rates as well as secure higher-starting salaries. The average monthly salary of a university graduate in China has increased by around ** 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.

This collection is based upon data from three national longitudinal surveys administered by the United States Census Bureau and is intended for research into career histories and decisions of young men and women who graduated from college between 1967 and 1985. Several research questions are explored including the following: (1) Who, among college graduates, entered teaching? (2) Of those who entered teaching, who stayed, and for how long? (3) What do teachers do when they leave teaching and from which occupations are they most likely to return to teaching? (4) Do the career patterns of teachers and potential teachers differ by race, gender, age, college major, or IQ score? (5) Have there been changes in teacher career patterns over time? This data file contains 154 variables in four categories: individual characteristics (birth year, race, IQ score, Armed Forces Qualifications Test, gender, and dependents), educational characteristics (year of graduation, major field of study), employment characteristics (employment status, job, job status, salary), and teaching status (whether the graduate taught within five years of graduation, year began teaching, career status, length of first teaching job, year left teaching, reason for leaving teaching, second teaching job length, year returned to teaching).