University graduates battle for employment amid growth in student numbers

EXCLUSIVE: Australia’s universities have been flooded with tens of thousands of extra students since places were uncapped but almost a third of graduates fail to get a fulltime job.

Olivia Gall, 19, who is in her first year studying for a Bachelor of Mining and Engineering at UNSW, pictured in Wagga, for Sat spread on Uni courses. Pic: Brad Newman

UNIVERSITIES have been flooded with tens of thousands of extra students since place numbers were uncapped but almost a third of graduates fail to get a fulltime job.

Just 68 per cent of graduates are employed fulltime within four months of completing their degree, surveys show. When Labor removed the cap three years ago, government-funded university places blew out from 469,000 in 2009 to 577,000 in 2013.

But the proportion finding work has been on the slide, falling from more than 85 per cent in 2008 to 71 per cent in 2013 before crashing under 70 per cent last year.

Starting salaries for those who do find work have flatlined, the Graduate Careers Australia research reveals.

More than 11 per cent of graduates are not working at all while thousands of others have been forced to take a part-time job. The waste of talent is exacerbated by one in five students who drop out of university in their first year.

And while unis struggle to accommodate record enrolments, the nation has a serious skill shortages across a raft of trades. Skills and training chiefs want higher priority given to trades “as a genuine choice for all school leavers”.

Uni grads are most likely to still be looking for work in fields including the visual and performing arts, life and social sciences, and humanities, while those qualified in medicine, surveying and mining engineering have rosier prospects.

Engineering is on the rise for both males and females, which is good news for first-year UNSW bachelor of mining­ engineering student Olivia Gall, 19. “I would love to work in mining engineering and be a manager,” Ms Gall said.

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“Many schools, students and parents have their sights set on university and tend to regard a vocational career as a second choice,” Group Training Australia chief executive Jim Barron said.

Australian Scholarships Group research shows that the cost of a university education in 2033 could increase by about $260,000 from 2015 figures for a medical student out of home.

CIVIL ENGINEERING

. Bachelor graduates: 1685 students

. Four year course: $37,950, rising to an estimated $95,849 by 2033

. Starting salary: $62,000

LAW

. Bachelor graduates: 2455

. Four year course: $44,433, rising to an estimated $112,225 by 2033

. Starting salary: $53,000

ACCOUNTING

. Bachelor graduates: 4800

. Three year course: $32,453, rising to an estimated $81,967 by 2033

. Starting salary: $50,000

VETERINARY SCIENCE

. Bachelor graduates: 500

. Five year course: $57,046, rising to an estimated $144,081 by 2033

. Starting salary: $46,300

MEDICINE

. Domestic students: 14,384

. Six year course: $70,325, rising to $177,620 by 2033

. Starting salary: $60,000

PSYCHOLOGY

. Bachelor graduates 4953

. Four year course: $26,627, rising to an estimated $49,120 by 2033

. Starting salary: $49,900

(Sources: Graduate careers Australia, Australian Graduate Survey, Department of Education and Training, University of Sydney)

BEST EMPLOYMENT PROSPECTS

. Medicine 97.5 per cent

. Pharmacy 94.1 per cent

. Surveying 83.9 per cent

. Mining engineering 82.8 per cent

. Veterinary science 80.7 per cent

. Nursing 80.5 per cent