Starting salaries of college graduates with a bachelor's degree from the class of 2006 are expected to increase from 2005, according to a survey released last week by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.
Mimi Collins, director of information for NACE, said employers reported they were planning to hire 14.5 percent more college graduates this year than last year.
"It's early, but it's a fairly good indication that the class of 2006 is going to graduate into a fairly good job market," Collins said.
The survey collected salary offers by major for over 70 bachelor's disciplines at the bachelor's degree level, said Collins. The survey is updated four times a year, from February to September, with the September report acting as an "end-of-the-year study" for the class of that year, said Collins.
Chemical engineers had a high average starting salary offer of $55,900, a 4.2 percent increase from 2005, followed by electrical and mechanical engineers and computer science majors, according to a NACE press release.
C.J. Livesay, director of the center for engineering career development, said this trend of increased starting salaries is consistent with the experience of graduates from the Engineering School.
"I think this is the best job market we've seen since 1999," Livesay said. According to Livesay, the median offer accepted by engineering graduates in 2005 was $52,500, while 2006 offers to engineering graduates have ranged from as low as $40,000 to as high as $56,000 or $59,000, depending on the field of study.
"We've got a great product that comes out of here, and there's a great market for them to go into," Livesay said.
In addition to engineering degrees, other fields of study saw similar increases in average starting salary offers. The starting salaries for economics and finance majors rose 11 percent to $45,191, according to the release.
Tom Fitch, assistant dean of commerce career services, said graduates of the Commerce School are experiencing a similar trend, although they tend to see higher average starting salaries than those reported at the national level.
"We typically see a higher starting salary coming out of McIntire [School of Commerce] compared to the NACE survey, because their data tends to be a bit more conservative because it is based on national data," Fitch said.
Fitch added he has noticed an increase in starting salary offers from investment banking and consulting firms, and said it would be feasible that many economics and finance majors focus on these areas.
Liberal arts majors as a group saw salary offers increase 6.1 percent, bringing the average starting salary to $30,828. However, data for liberal arts and sciences majors is limited at this time of year, according to the release. James McBride, director of University Career Services, said the College has not collected data of starting salaries for College graduates with liberal arts degrees.
"Until we see data from our students, we don't have any [information] to compare," McBride said.
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