Salaries for the class of 2018 show little change from that paid to their class of 2017 counterparts, according to preliminary salary survey data released by the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

NACE’s Fall 2018 Salary Survey found the overall average salary for the class of 2018 is $50,004, down 2% from last year’s preliminary salary of $51,022 for the class of 2017 and 1% less than the final salary of $50,516 reported for last years’ graduates.

The top-paid major category this year remains computer and information sciences, but the current overall average salary is down slightly — to $73,768 this year from $74,183 last year.

Salaries for class of 2018 engineering graduates appear to be rebounding from last year, when the overall salary fell 2.4%. This year, the overall average salary for this group is $65,455, up 1.4% over last year’s average.

Mathematics/statistics graduates are experiencing the largest recovery in average salary. Currently at $65,349, the overall average starting salary stands 22.7% higher than last year’s. This significant change can be attributed to both the low number of salaries reported at this time, and the large differences in starting salaries for both individual mathematics and statistics majors.

The average starting salary for class of 2018 business majors begins slightly lower this year at an average of $51,872; however, the drop is less than 1% from last year’s starting salary.

Health sciences majors show the second largest increase to their overall average salary, which rose 4.2% to $52,711.

Graduates earning degrees in the physical sciences, e.g. chemistry, physics, and geology, have average starting salaries that start 10% lower this year, with a current overall average starting salary at $42,474.