Starting Salaries by Area of Study

There is quite a wide margin between the top and the bottom of the starting salaries by area of study but the couple of disciplines at the top and at the bottom seem to be outliers and most of the starting salaries are in the general vicinity of each other.
In a number of cases the starting salaries can be affected by the extent to which the graduate is able to determine how many hours they work. The examples of dentistry and optometry both have some scope for extended work hours at the graduate’s discretion, and this might possibly be increasing the reported starting salary in some cases. On the other hand, salaried graduate positions in areas such as biological science and social work have almost no scope for extending work hours and thereby increasing the starting salary.
Other factors affecting starting salaries by discipline include the level of public or private employment and the level of self-employment, contract work, and salaried positions. The various areas of study can have different combinations of these factors which can impact on the final reported starting salary as it appears in the table.
Rank | Area | $,000 | Size | Last |
---|---|---|---|---|
1 | Dentistry | 80 | 63 | 1 |
2 | Optometry | 70 | 22 | 2 |
3 | Engineering | 64 | 1271 | 4 |
4 | Medicine | 60 | 388 | 5 |
4 | Earth Sciences | 60 | 87 | 3 |
6 | Education | 57 | 1032 | 7 |
7 | Law | 55 | 304 | 9 |
7 | Physical Sciences | 55 | 82 | 8 |
7 | Mathematics | 55 | 59 | 6 |
10 | Paramedical Studies | 54 | 1808 | 11 |
11 | Computer Science | 53 | 325 | 10 |
12 | Accounting | 50 | 781 | 15 |
12 | Psychology | 50 | 253 | 15 |
12 | Social Sciences | 50 | 118 | 19 |
12 | Agricultural Science | 50 | 107 | 12 |
12 | Social Work | 50 | 97 | 12 |
17 | Architecture & Building | 49.2 | 284 | 17 |
18 | Economics / Business | 49 | 1983 | 17 |
19 | Biological Sciences | 48 | 421 | 12 |
20 | Veterinary Science | 46 | 68 | 20 |
21 | Humanities | 45 | 922 | 20 |
22 | Art & Design | 40 | 269 | 22 |
23 | Pharmacy | 39 | 278 | 23 |
Key & Notes
* $,000 average starting salary in $1,000
* Size respondent sample size
* Last Last year ranking
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