So higher education comes at a price…but is it really worth it? A new study by the Education Policy Research Initiative study seems to say yes! The research confirmed that although average salaries vary widely based on the type of credential earned, with fine arts and humanities paying the least and math, computer science and engineering paying the most, overall higher education is a good investment.
Looking at tax records for aproximately 340,000 students from 14 Canadian colleges and universities and tracked earnings over eight years, researchers found that 2005 bachelor’s degree graduates had average annual earnings of $45,200 in their first year of work, and their average salaries grew by 66 per cent over eight years.
For 2005 college diploma graduates, average earnings started at $33,900 and grew to $54,000 eight years later — a 59-per-cent increase and even the humanities and fine arts graduates earned more.
Here are the numbers found by the study:
In inflation-adjusted dollars, here are the average salaries that 2005 college graduates were earning eight years later:
Engineering — $71,900
Personal, protective and transportation services – $51,900
Sciences and agriculture — $49,700
Health — $49,300
Business — $47,300
Arts and education — $41,500
Fine arts — $41,100
Here in inflation-adjusted dollars, are the average salaries that 2005 bachelor degree graduates were earning eight years later:
Engineering — $99,600
Math and computer science – $89,300
Business graduates — $81,400
Science and agriculture — $68,700
Health — $68,300
Social sciences — $61,900
Humanities — $57,000
Fine arts — $45,100
For more details on the study CLICK HERE.
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