How Much is Your Degree Worth?

How much is your degree worth? New data has revealed how much graduates are earning up to nine years after gaining their degree, with some qualifications securing tens of thousands of dollars extra in pay.

Those studying health-related degrees, engineering and information technology are among graduates who can expect the most financial pay-off. Some will see steep pay rises inside 10 years.

Those with a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering have median earnings of $44,480 one year after graduation, rising to $80,517 in year nine.

Medical-studies graduates jump from $90,995 to $128,469, and banking and finance from $42,101 to $78,578.

Less prosperous are teachers, who start at a relatively high $43,154 but increase more slowly than other fields to earn $58,377 after nine years, and performing-arts students, who rise from $24,104 to $41,313.

Median earnings are initially low for biological science graduates, at $32,768, but increase to $60,664 after nine years, partly due to the completion of higher-level qualifications by some.

"To some extent students will always want to follow their passion but this information will help them to see where their passion may lead them in terms of future income.

"The highest-earning qualifications include health-related fields, engineering and information technology. This underlines the importance of encouraging more students to study science, technology, engineering and maths."

The information is taken from a powerful Statistics New Zealand-run database, the Integrated Data Infrastructure, which provides earnings based on actual tax returns.

Only graduates who are working in New Zealand are included. Information about the number of hours worked is not available, so it is not possible to determine differences in wage rates.

Not included in the information release was how much student debt graduates had taken on. The average loan balance last year was $20,371, an increase from $14,246 in 2004.

Read more at NZHerald.co.nz