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.

Graph and download economic data for Income Before Taxes: Wages and Salaries by Highest Education: College Graduate: Total (CXU900000LB1407M) from 2012 to 2023 about tertiary schooling, salaries, tax, education, wages, income, and USA.

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 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.

Graph and download economic data for Employed full time: Wage and salary workers: High School graduates, no college: 25 years and over (LEU0252917000Q) from Q1 2000 to Q2 2025 about no college, secondary schooling, secondary, full-time, 25 years +, salaries, workers, education, wages, employment, and USA.

In 2024, the average salary of a Washington University EMBA graduate three years after graduation was over ******* U.S. dollars. CEIBS graduates could expect the second-highest salary, reaching ******* U.S. dollars the same year. EMBAThe Executive MBA (EMBA) program is a graduate-level business degree program and is primarily designed for executives, managers, and similar business leaders. These programs are usually targeted towards working professionals, often in the middle stages of their career, and are often flexible to allow for part-time attendance while the student still works. An EMBA program allows a student to increase career options and update or add to their existing skill set. The best universities worldwide In the United States, Princeton University was considered one of the best colleges, with graduates earning a median of ******* U.S. dollars after 10 years. According to the Times Higher Education ranking of the best universities worldwide, the University of Oxford in the UK was considered the best.

Graph and download economic data for Employed full time: Usual weekly nominal earnings (third quartile): Wage and salary workers: High School graduates, no college: 25 years and over: Black or African American: Men (LEU0252938800A) from 2000 to 2024 about third quartile, no college, secondary schooling, secondary, full-time, males, 25 years +, African-American, salaries, workers, earnings, education, wages, employment, and USA.

See notice below about this dataset

This dataset provides the average annual earnings by industry 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 Industries

• 00 - All Students
• 11 - Agriculture, Forestry, Fishing and Hunting
• 21 - Mining, Quarrying, and Oil and Gas Extraction
• 22 - Utilities
• 23 - Construction
• 31 - Manufacturing
• 42 - Wholesale Trade
• 44 - Retail Trade
• 48 - Transportation and Warehousing
• 51 - Information
• 52 - Finance and Insurance
• 53 - Real Estate and Rental and Leasing
• 54 - Professional, Scientific, and Technical Services
• 55 - Management of Companies and Enterprises
• 56 - Administrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services
• 61 - Educational Services
• 62 - Health Care and Social Assistance
• 71 - Arts, Entertainment, and Recreation
• 72 - Accommodation and Food Services
• 81 - Other Services (except Public Administration)
• 92 - Public Administration
• 0 - No Industry Reported

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.

Analysis of ‘Where it Pays to Attend College’ provided by Analyst-2 (analyst-2.ai), based on source dataset retrieved from https://www.kaggle.com/wsj/college-salaries on 20 November 2021.

--- Dataset description provided by original source is as follows ---

Salary Increase By Type of College

Party school? Liberal Arts college? State School? You already know your starting salary will be different depending on what type of school you attend. But, increased earning power shows less disparity. Ten years out, graduates of Ivy League schools earned 99% more than they did at graduation. Party school graduates saw an 85% increase. Engineering school graduates fared worst, earning 76% more 10 years out of school. See where your school ranks.

Salaries By Region

Attending college in the Midwest leads to the lowest salary both at graduation and at mid-career, according to the PayScale Inc. survey. Graduates of schools in the Northeast and California fared best.

Salary Increase By Major

Your parents might have worried when you chose Philosophy or International Relations as a major. But a year-long survey of 1.2 million people with only a bachelor's degree by PayScale Inc. shows that graduates in these subjects earned 103.5% and 97.8% more, respectively, about 10 years post-commencement. Majors that didn't show as much salary growth include Nursing and Information Technology.

All data was obtained from the Wall Street Journal based on data from Payscale, Inc:

• Salaries for Colleges by Type
• Salaries for Colleges by Region
• Degrees that Pay you Back

--- Original source retains full ownership of the source dataset ---

Graph and download economic data for Employed full time: Median usual weekly nominal earnings (second quartile): Wage and salary workers: High School graduates, no college: 25 years and over: White: Men (LEU0252930300A) from 2000 to 2024 about no college, second quartile, secondary schooling, secondary, full-time, males, 25 years +, salaries, workers, earnings, white, education, wages, median, employment, and USA.

Explore the progression of average salaries for graduates in High School And Junior College from 2020 to 2023 through this detailed chart. It compares these figures against the national average for all graduates, offering a comprehensive look at the earning potential of High School And Junior College relative to other fields. This data is essential for students assessing the return on investment of their education in High School And Junior College, providing a clear picture of financial prospects post-graduation.

Explore the progression of average salaries for graduates in High School (Also Completed Intensive English At City College San Francisco) from 2020 to 2023 through this detailed chart. It compares these figures against the national average for all graduates, offering a comprehensive look at the earning potential of High School (Also Completed Intensive English At City College San Francisco) relative to other fields. This data is essential for students assessing the return on investment of their education in High School (Also Completed Intensive English At City College San Francisco), providing a clear picture of financial prospects post-graduation.

In 2021, graduates from the Helene Fuld College of Nursing had the highest mid-career salary in the United States, at 95,600 U.S. dollars. Graduates from Laboure College had the second highest mid-career salary, at 90,800 U.S. dollars.

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 2024, Stanford Graduate School of Business alumni earned the highest average annual salary of alumni at leading business schools worldwide, with an annual income of over ******* U.S. dollars. At the Harvard Business School, the average annual salary of alumni was ******* U.S. dollars. Most of the business schools with the highest earning alumni were located in the United States.

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.

In 2022, 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.

In 2024, it was projected that people in the United States with a Master’s degree in Computer Science would have the highest average starting salary, at 85,403 U.S. dollars. People who held a Master’s degree in Engineering were projected to have the second-highest starting salary, at 83,628 U.S. dollars. An abundance of Masters As higher education in the United States has become more common, and even expected, the number of Master’s degrees awarded has increased. During the 1949-50 academic year, about 58,180 Master’s degrees were awarded to students, with the vast majority being earned by male students. In the 2018-19 academic year, this figure increased to about 833,710 Master’s degrees awarded, with the majority being earned by female students. The right career While Engineering might have the highest starting pay for Master’s degree holders, those with a Master’s degree as a Physician Assistant had the highest mid-career median pay in 2021. Engineering continues to be one of the most popular fields for those seeking their Master’s degree, and STEM fields continue to dominate the field in number of Master’s degrees awarded.

Graph and download economic data for Employed full time: Wage and salary workers: High School graduates, no college: 25 years and over: Men (LEU0252921000Q) from Q1 2000 to Q2 2025 about no college, secondary schooling, secondary, full-time, males, 25 years +, salaries, workers, education, wages, employment, and USA.

United States - Wage and Salary Workers Paid Hourly Rates: 16 Years and Over: College Graduates: Bachelor's Degree and Higher was 22.60000 % of Total Paid Hourly Rate in January of 2023, according to the United States Federal Reserve. Historically, United States - Wage and Salary Workers Paid Hourly Rates: 16 Years and Over: College Graduates: Bachelor's Degree and Higher reached a record high of 22.60000 in January of 2023 and a record low of 13.00000 in January of 2002. Trading Economics provides the current actual value, an historical data chart and related indicators for United States - Wage and Salary Workers Paid Hourly Rates: 16 Years and Over: College Graduates: Bachelor's Degree and Higher - last updated from the United States Federal Reserve on July of 2025.