USQ boasts highest median starting salary for third year

For the third year running this Queensland university leads the nation in median starting salary of graduates.

A QUEENSLAND university has come out on top in a ranking of the highest graduate salaries in the country.

University of Southern Queensland graduates recorded a median salary of $65,200 in the latest Good Universities Guide, landing the institute at No.1, along with Charles Darwin University.

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USQ vice-chancellor Professor Geraldine Mackenzie told The Courier-Mail the university was delighted to be at the top of the list for the third year in a row.

“We have a strong focus on getting our students jobs, we have really strong connections with employers and making sure our students are job ready,” she said.

Professor Mackenzie also credited the university’s record of high graduate salaries to the “very practical and employment focused” degrees on offer, such as its strong results in engineering, nursing and teaching.

USQ vice-chancellor Professor Geraldine Mackenzie said the results reflected the university's continued focus on high-quality education and producing job-ready graduates.

“This says to the community we are very serious about offering high-quality programs which produce graduates who are highly employable,” she said.

“We’re giving students the opportunity for programs that will lead to employment – our nurses are getting jobs in regional hospitals, our engineers are getting jobs in regional councils or industry.

“We’re providing teachers and health professionals that our regional communities need, and that Australia needs generally.”

Good Education’s Ross White said local economies and student demographics could have an impact on graduate outcomes.

He said USQ and Charles Darwin had a number of similarities including being regional universities, having a comparatively low proportion of students commencing directly from high school and both posting strong results for science graduates.

USQ engineering graduate Kyra O'Sullivan, who now works as an environmental engineer at GHD in Brisbane. USQ graduates have been revealed to have the highest graduate salaries in the country.

CQUniversity was also recognised by the Good Universities Guide for its high graduate salary of $64,600, the fifth highest in the country.

James Cook University recorded a median graduate salary of $62,000, followed by the University of Queensland ($60,000), University of the Sunshine Coast ($58,000) and Queensland University of Technology ($57,800).

But not all graduates are feeling satisfied, with a new report today revealing one in four Australian university graduates feel they should have opted for vocational training instead.

A survey of 1000 people from education company Pearson found 42 per cent of respondents with degrees felt their university education did not prepare them for their career, while more than half said universities weren’t teaching the right skills for today’s job market.

Median graduate salaries

USQ $65,200

Charles Darwin $65,200

University of Tas $65,000

Uni of New England $64,700

CQ University $64,600

Uni of Notre Dame $64,000

Charles Sturt Uni $63,400

Edith Cowan Uni $62,600

Federation Uni $62,600

Curtin Uni $62,600

Source: Good Universities Guide 2020