Specialised majors such as computing may give the most
bang for your buck, according to a new study.
Computing and computer engineering courses took the top
three spots in a study done last month on which university majors
reaped the most financially in the first year of graduation.
Consumer research firm ValuePenguin compared
tuition fees of different majors at the National University of
Singapore (NUS) with annual starting salaries of students who
graduated last year, adjusted for the employment rates of different
graduates.
For $8,150 in annual tuition fees, graduates from the
three computing-related courses can expect to earn gross median
monthly incomes of $3,900 to $4,000.
Degrees with high tuition fees had the least immediate
returns. For instance, medicine and dental surgery students pay
$27,400 per year in tuition fees, and earn $4,000 to $5,000 in
median gross income monthly in their first year after
graduation.
The study showed general science and arts degrees were
ranked among those with the lowest returns on investment.
COVETED SKILLS
Specialised
skill-sets require more training, and if they align with industry
demand, tend to have higher returns of investment.
VALUEPENGUIN'S SENIOR VICE-PRESIDENT
DUCKJU KANG
ValuePenguin senior vice-president Duckju Kang said:
"The fact that the top three courses are all related to computing
speaks of how much demand there is for talent in this field. The
fastest-growing companies today are tech companies.
"We see the same trend happening in Asia and across the
world. Governments are looking at tech solutions and there is a
growth in start-ups."
Tech companies such as Facebook, Google and Twitter can
offer six-figure annual salaries to new graduates, he said.
The study used only NUS figures for ease of comparison
across majors as each university defines its specialisations
slightly differently, Mr Kang added.
Some 6,300 NUS graduates were surveyed by the
university in last year's graduate employment survey.
NUS computing science graduate Rey Neo, 26, landed a
job at online payment service PayPal as a software engineer during
his internship with the company.
"I took the offer because I liked its work culture -
friendly, open and flexible," said Mr Neo, who started work in June
last year and is earning a monthly sum that is above the median
gross salary of $4,000 for his peers.
Architecture, pharmacy, civil and electrical
engineering, law and nursing courses were among the top 10 majors
with the highest returns.
Said Mr Kang: "Specialised degrees are increasingly
becoming more valuable and they definitely make more money than
general ones as they help to differentiate you in the job
market.
"Specialised skill-sets require more training, and, if
they align with industry demand, tend to have higher returns on
investment."
But these figures may not reflect the worth of a
medical degree in the long run, as their graduates' pays typically
pick up and become more stable five to 10 years down the road, said
Mr Kang.
Mr David Leong, managing director of recruitment firm
People Worldwide Consulting, shared the view.
"You need to invest more to earn a medicine degree, but
the pay of a doctor will increase over the course of his career,"
he said, adding that there are pay variations even within the same
industry.
Mr Leong said that the returns on investment "will
improve over time, on their own momentum, not on the basis of a
graduate's first degree".
"Education is a continuous effort and the basic
university degree is just a starting point."
ST