Which uni’s students earn the most? New data reveals starting salaries and employment rates for graduates

New graduates from SA’s three unis have enjoyed a bump in their starting salaries – see where they rank for starting wages and employment rates.

New graduates from each of South Australia’s main universities were more likely this year to get a full-time job and earned more than those who entered the workforce the year before.

University of Adelaide graduates’ median starting salary was $65,000 a year, up from $62,000 – a 5 per cent increase.

Flinders University graduates started at $66,000, up from $64,500, while the UniSA median was $64,700, up from $62,600.

The median salaries for new graduates were reported by a federal government agency on Tuesday.

Universities Australia chief executive Catriona Jackson said it was pleasing to see good job outcomes for graduates despite the impact of Covid-19 on the economy.

Catriona Jackson, CEO of Universities Australia

“A degree continues to give students the edge in an increasingly competitive employment market,” she said.

“The survey shows signs of a recovery in the graduate job market. As vaccination rates improve, and reach beyond 80 per cent in some places, and more states begin to open up, it is highly likely the premium for graduates will grow further.

“Graduate employment traditionally outstrips the trajectory of the national economy. So, a university education equips you for success in even the most challenging economic environment.”

Nationally, the most lucrative median starting salaries were for dentists whose pay packet hit $100,000.

They were followed by graduates in medicine on $76,000, and social workers on $72,600.

Adelaide University final year dentistry student Elaine Yu said she already had a job opportunity for next year but also wanted to explore working in public health.

A graduate of Walford Anglican School for Girls, she chose dentistry because of her own experience, where orthodontics gave her confidence to be more outgoing.

“Oral health has so many impacts on our quality of life,” she said.

University of Adelaide final year student Elaine Yu. Picture: Roy VanDerVegt

Ms Yu said good pay was a bonus but being a dentist was not an easy job.

“It takes a lot of commitment and resilience,” she said.

It was not easy working with patients who were often frightened of you, and working with an intimate part of human anatomy.

Adelaide Uni’s dental school is ranked No.1 in Australia and 34th in the world in the QS scales.

The government survey found the pay gap between men and women worsened.

Males earned an average of $66,800 and females $64,200 – a 3.9 per cent gap compared to a 2.5 per cent gap in 2020.

Age was also a factor. Those aged 30 or under started at $63,400, considerably below the over-30s on $73,100.

The survey by Quality Indicators for Learning and Teaching involved 127,827 participants from 127 higher education institutions, including the nation’s 41 unis.

It collects data at four months after graduation from three points of time, primarily from May but with some from February and November.

Education and Youth Minister Alan Tudge said there had been a slight increase in full-time job outcomes.

“It’s encouraging to see that despite the ongoing impacts of the pandemic, students are getting on with their lives, graduating and moving quickly into full-time work,” he said.

Nationally, new graduates had an overall employment rate of 84.8 per cent, and a 68.9 per cent full-time job rate.

For SA’s unis, the full-time job rates were Adelaide 66.5 per cent (up from 63.5 per cent), Flinders 66.3 per cent (up from 63.1 per cent) and UniSA 74.6 per cent (up from 67.8 per cent).

The QILT survey of new graduates comes after it reported on outcomes three years after graduation which found Flinders Uni had the best job result in the country at postgraduate level.