The pandemic limited the college class of 2021’s salary gains, the National Association of Colleges and Employers reported last Thursday. Overall, the average salary for 2021 college graduates rose just 1.2% compared to 2020 graduates and stands at $55,911.
“The fact that the increase in starting salary is small may simply be a case of timing as the class of 2021 was still experiencing the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on the job market,” said Shawn VanDerziel, NACE executive director.
“Vaccines were not readily available to the public until early 2021, so the job market for new college graduates was not as robust as it currently is,” VanDerziel said.
For example, NACE research shows employers planned to hire 7.2% more graduates from the class of 2021 than they did from the class of 2020. However, just one year later, employers’ planned hiring increase from the class of 2022 exceeded 30%.
The highest average salary for the Class of 2021 went to computer and information sciences majors at $81,202. But NACE noted that is up less than 1% from the previous year. And the average salary paid to engineering graduates fell.
Here are the top paid categories of majors among the class of 2021 bachelor’s degree candidates:
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