Last week, Statistics Canada published data on the labour market outcomes for college and university graduates for the graduating classes of 2010 to 2017. There release reveals the median employment income of graduates by the educational qualification the received and their chosen field of study.
So, who’s making the big bucks? Which degrees tend to pay off in terms of financial compensation on the job market?
There’s actually a great deal more to the report as it covers information about the students’ age, gender, region, and more. However, for the purposes of this article, we’re going to focus on answering those questions: the (undergraduate) university degrees that command the highest salaries.
As we’ve seen in other studies recently about high-paying, in-demand jobs, the top earners tend to be in the mathematics and technology fields, with engineering graduates being paid the most.
Business, administration, and healthcare graduates also faired rather well for employment income after graduating.
At the other end of the spectrum, the university graduates with the lowest salaries studied in the fields of visual and performing arts and humanities.
The employment income of university graduates in Canada by field of study
– Education – $57,300
– Visual and performing arts, and communications technologies – $39,900
– Humanities – $48,800
– Social and behavioral sciences and law – $52,600
– Business, management and public administration – $63,200
– Physical and life sciences and technologies – $58,800
– Mathematics, computer and information sciences – $74,200
– Architecture, engineering, and related technologies – $76,800
– Agriculture, natural resources and conservation – $57,400
– Health and related fields – $68,700
Persona
l, protective and transportation services – $63,200
With only a few exceptions, the median income for graduates from all of these fields of study is close to or above the Canadian national median wage which is currently $58,916.
Read the full report from Statistics Canada here.