Math, science grads earn most

Survey shows it matters more what students study when it comes to income

7/9/2014

WASHINGTON — What you study — math and science are a plus — seems to matter more than whether your alma mater is public or private when it comes to finding a high-paying job after college, according to a report released Tuesday by the education department.

The survey of the class of 2008, by the National Center for Education Statistics, provides an interesting snapshot of the nation’s educated elite following a crushing economic recession: Overall, college grads reported lower unemployment rates compared with the national average, although black and Asian-college graduates were twice as likely to be out of work than their white classmates. College grads from private four-year schools earned about the same as those from public four-year schools, about $50,000 a year.

But while a paltry 16 percent of students took home degrees in science, technology, engineering, or math — the STEM disciplines — those who did were paid significantly better. They averaged $65,000 a year compared with $49,500 for graduates who had other degrees.

The findings are based on a survey of 17,110 students conducted in 2012, about four years after the students obtained their bachelor’s degrees.

The survey found a strong correlation between earning money and highly specialized degrees. More than 95 percent of grads who studied computer and information sciences, for example, were employed full-time at the time of the survey and earned $72,600 on average. Engineering students reported similar job and salary prospects. That’s compared with a humanities graduate who was more likely to report working multiple jobs and earn a full-time salary averaging $43,100.

The report also pointed to a correlation between being white or Asian and male and a higher salary.

Asian graduates reported earning more than other ethnicities, averaging $62,500 in full-time jobs compared with $47,300 earned by Hispanics, $48,800 by blacks, and $52,400 by whites. Likewise, male grads reported earning more — $57,800 on average — than their female classmates in full-time jobs, who averaged $47,400.

The study doesn’t explain the disparities in pay, which could be attributed to different fields of study.

C.N. Le, a sociologist at the University of Massachusetts at Amherst, said Asian students are gravitating toward career fields in math, science, and technology that are higher paying, which likely explains the higher average salaries by Asian grads. But they might be facing the higher unemployment rates — almost 12 percent compared with 5.5 percent of white graduates — because of visa issues or policies by American businesses favoring U.S. citizens.

According to the Pew Research Center, nearly three-quarters of Asian-American adults were born abroad.

Mr. Le said there also is a “glass-ceiling effect” in the math, science, and technology fields. “In a lot of cases, STEM jobs have fewer promotion ladders than other positions” in areas like finance or advertising, he said.

Black college grads faced a similar unemployment rate of almost 12 percent, while 8.5 percent of Hispanic grads were out of work, according to the survey.

The study found the unemployment rate among the graduates was 6.7 percent, compared with the 8.1 percent national unemployment rate at the time of the survey. Unemployment rates were low for students who studied computer and information sciences or engineering, but high for those with degrees in social sciences or general humanities.