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Engineering majors have highest projected starting salary at $69,188

January 16, 2019

Engineering majors from the class of 2019 have a projected average starting salary of $69,188, up 4% from last year and the highest of all majors, according to a report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Computer science graduates are projected to receive the second-highest starting salary at $67,539.

Agriculture and natural resources majors are projected to see the greatest gain in starting salary at 4.1%.

The news is generally positive for Class of 2019 graduates overall at this early juncture in the salary reporting cycle. All reported disciplines are expected to see gains — albeit relatively small ones — except one, and that decrease is only 0.1%.

Broad category 2019 projected average salary 2018 projected average salary Percent change
Engineering $69,188 $66,521 4.0%
Computer science $67,539 $66,005 2.3%
Math & sciences $62,177 $61,867 0.5%
Business $57,657 $56,720 1.7%
Social sciences $57,310 $56,689 1.1%
Humanities $56,651 $56,688 -0.1%
Agriculture & natural resources $55,750 $53,565 4.1%
Communications $52,056 $51,448 1.2%

Data for the report came from NACE’s Winter 2019 Salary Survey, which included 186 survey responses collected in the US from Aug. 1 through Dec. 3, 2018.