PE Magazine, November 2007, Engineering Grads See Rising Salaries

November 20, 2008

NOVEMBER 2007

Engineering Grads See Rising Salaries

A tight credit squeeze and the bursting of the housing bubble have many in the U.S worried about their finances. However, 2007 college graduates received a good financial picture with a steady rise in starting salaries. Generous salary offers were elevated by the growing demand for engineers in many disciplines, according to a recent survey.

The average offers to graduates in nearly all engineering disciplines increased this year, according to the survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers. Offers to civil engineering graduates increased by 6.3% to $48,998 while offers to chemical engineering graduates rose by 5.2% to $59,218. Mechanical engi-neering graduates saw starting salaries rise 4.3% to $54,057, and offers to electrical engineering graduates rose 3.8% to $55,333.

In comparison, offers to computer science graduates were up by 4.5% to an average of $53,051, and offers to information sciences and systems graduates increased by 5.9% to $49,966.

The average starting salary for accounting majors reached $46,292, a gain of 3%, while business administration and management graduates experienced a 5.1% in-crease to $43,256.