Recent reports from the National Association of Colleges and Employers show that graduating seniors may have brighter futures than they think.
NACE’s April 2012 Salary Survey shows the overall median starting salary for 2012 undergraduates has risen 4.5 percent, from $40,735 in 2011 to $42,569.
The report is based on data from employers, the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the Census Bureau and Job Search Intelligence.
Education and communications majors are seeing the biggest increase in median starting salaries. The median salary for education majors increased from $35,828 in 2011 to $37,423.
Rachel Brunges, a 21-year-old special education master’s student, said she’s glad the median starting salary has increased because she thinks teachers are already underpaid.
Not only are median starting salaries rising, but another recent NACE report says employers expect to hire 10.2 percent more college graduates from the class of 2012 than they did from the class of 2011.
Brunges said she plans to look for teaching jobs in Alachua County after she graduates in May from the ProTeach program, a five-year education program that includes a master’s degree.
“I think it thoroughly prepares teachers, and principals seem very interested in hiring education students who graduate from UF,” she said.
Students graduating with communications degrees are seeing a median starting salary of $40,022, compared to last year’s median of $38,549, according to the report.
Phil Allcott, a 22-year-old telecommunication senior, said he has started searching for entry-level positions at production houses.
Most of the salaries for the jobs he’s looked for are lower than the median.
“Salary does not play a role in my search,” he said. “It’s whether the job will offer good experience and a chance to forward my career and help me move up the ladder.”
Ja’Net Glover, associate director for employer relations at the Career Resource Center, said there was a 15 percent increase for employer attendance at career fairs and a 20 percent increase of employer-student connections this year.
“I think students are becoming more aware and realizing that you’re going to have to have experience on your resume and probably need to be more open and flexible to opportunities that are available,” she said.
