Higher salaries for university graduates from NUS, NTU and SMU in 2015

Median salaries for university graduates from NUS, NTU, and SMU rose to a new high in 2015. PHOTO: NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY
Median salaries for university graduates from NUS, NTU and SMU rose to a new high in 2015. PHOTO: NANYANG TECHNOLOGICAL UNIVERSITY

SINGAPORE - Median salaries for university graduates last year rose to a new high of $3,300, up from $3,200 for the class of 2014.

This is according to the results of a joint graduate employment survey of 10,028 full-time, fresh graduates in November last year by the three universities - the National University of Singapore, Nanyang Technological University and Singapore Management University.

The survey also found that about nine in 10 graduates, were able to find employment within six months of finishing their final examinations. The figure is similar to previous years.

About 83 per cent of the graduates in the labour force secured permanent full-time jobs compared to 82.7 per cent in 2014.

The mean gross monthly salary among fresh graduates who have permanent full-time jobs was higher at $3,468, up from $3,333 in 2014.

Graduates from SMU fared the best with 93.7 per cent of them being employed within six months of their final examinations. The figure was nearly 90 per cent for NUS and NTU.

SMU graduates also earned the most, with a record mean gross monthly salary of $3,624 since the university's pioneer cohort graduated in 2004.

Their peers from NUS and NTU took home $3,469 and $3,419 respectively, about 4.3 to 4.5 per cent higher than the 2014 batch.

Overall, fresh graduates from engineering fields such as computer engineering, engineering science and environmental engineering saw the biggest pay jumps. Some double-degree programmes at NTU as well as the social sciences, accountancy and information systems courses at SMU also saw the highest salary increases.

Details of the survey findings can be found at: www.moe.gov.sg/education/post-secondary/.

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