In 2024, the average annual income of a college graduate with a Bachelor's degree in the United States was ****** U.S. dollars. This is a decrease from the previous year, when the median income for college grads was around ****** U.S. dollars.

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.

The Recent College Graduates (RCG) survey estimates the potential supply of newly qualified teachers in the United States and explores the immediate post-degree employment and education experiences of individuals obtaining bachelor's or master's degrees from American colleges and universities. The RCG survey, which focuses heavily, but not exclusively, on those graduates qualified to teach at the elementary and secondary levels, is designed to meet the following objectives: (1) to determine how many graduates become eligible or qualified to teach for the first time and how many are employed as teachers in the year following graduation, by teaching field, (2) to examine the relationship between courses taken, student achievement, and occupational outcomes, and (3) to monitor unemployment rates and average salaries of graduates by field of study. The RCG survey collects information on education and employment of all graduates (date of graduation, field of study, whether newly qualified to teach, further enrollment, financial aid, employment status, and teacher employment characteristics) as well as standard demographic characteristics such as earnings, age, marital status, sex, and race/ethnicity. The 1989-1990 survey (called RCG-91 because the data were collected in 1991) contains four data files. Part 1 contains variables from the main questionnaire and includes information on type of degree received, teaching eligibility, certification, salary, and whether the respondent was unemployed. Also included are transcripts for sampled bachelor degree recipients. Part 2 contains verbatim comments from graduates regarding fields of study, occupation, and parents' occupations. Replicate weights are contained in Part 3, and imputation flags are found in Part 4.

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.

U.S. citizens with a professional degree had the highest median household income in 2023, at 172,100 U.S. dollars. In comparison, those with less than a 9th grade education made significantly less money, at 35,690 U.S. dollars. Household income The median household income in the United States has fluctuated since 1990, but rose to around 70,000 U.S. dollars in 2021. Maryland had the highest median household income in the United States in 2021. Maryland’s high levels of wealth is due to several reasons, and includes the state's proximity to the nation's capital. Household income and ethnicity The median income of white non-Hispanic households in the United States had been on the rise since 1990, but declining since 2019. While income has also been on the rise, the median income of Hispanic households was much lower than those of white, non-Hispanic private households. However, the median income of Black households is even lower than Hispanic households. Income inequality is a problem without an easy solution in the United States, especially since ethnicity is a contributing factor. Systemic racism contributes to the non-White population suffering from income inequality, which causes the opportunity for growth to stagnate.

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

In 2023, the mean income of Black Bachelor's degree holders was ****** U.S. dollars, compared to ****** U.S. dollars for White Americans with a Bachelor's degree.

In 2022, about 37.7 percent of the U.S. population who were aged 25 and above had graduated from college or another higher education institution, a slight decline from 37.9 the previous year. However, this is a significant increase from 1960, when only 7.7 percent of the U.S. population had graduated from college. Demographics Educational attainment varies by gender, location, race, and age throughout the United States. Asian-American and Pacific Islanders had the highest level of education, on average, while Massachusetts and the District of Colombia are areas home to the highest rates of residents with a bachelor’s degree or higher. However, education levels are correlated with wealth. While public education is free up until the 12th grade, the cost of university is out of reach for many Americans, making social mobility increasingly difficult. Earnings White Americans with a professional degree earned the most money on average, compared to other educational levels and races. However, regardless of educational attainment, males typically earned far more on average compared to females. Despite the decreasing wage gap over the years in the country, it remains an issue to this day. Not only is there a large wage gap between males and females, but there is also a large income gap linked to race as well.

University graduates in England had an average annual salary of 42,000 British pounds a year in 2024, 11,500 pounds higher than the average salary for non-graduates. People with postgraduate degrees earned an even higher average salary at 47,000 pounds, a difference of 5,000 pounds when compared with undergraduate degrees.

In Italy, employees with a university degree earned on average ****** euros per year in 2024. According to data provided by JobPricing, the average annual gross salary of employees with a bachelor's was ****** euros, while those holding a master's were paid ****** euros more. In the same year, Italian graduates earned a monthly average of ***** euros net, one year after obtaining a university diploma.

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.

In 2025, the average salary of a graduate from the Tsinghua University School of Economics and Management in China with low work experience was ******* U.S. dollars (once adjusted for purchasing power parity). This was the highest in the world, ahead of students from the Shanghai Institute of Finance at Shanghai Jiao Tong University and HEC Paris. Salaries of MBA graduates The salaries of business school MBA graduates worldwide stood at ***********. dollars in 2024, while graduates who held a bachelor’s degree could expect a starting salary of ****** U.S. dollars. The largest university worldwide is located in Africa The university with the highest number of students in the world is found in Nigeria. Ambrose Alli University has more than ******* registered students. Tribhuvan University in Nepal and Payame Noor University in Iran round up the top three.

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.