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Table 387. Average annual salary of bachelor's degree recipients employed full time 1 year after graduation, by field of study: Selected years, 1976 through 2001 
Average salary
of degree recipients
Field of study
Total Engineering Business and management Health professions Education1  Public affairs and social services Biological sciences Mathematics and other sciences Psychology Social sciences History Humanities Communications Miscellaneous
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15
  Current dollars
1974–75 recipients—salary in February 19762  $7,600 (—) $12,200 (—) $10,200 (—) $8,600 (—) $6,300 (—) (†) $6,500 (—) $7,000 (—) (†) $6,700 (—) (†) $5,800 (—) (†) $6,800 (—)
1979–80 recipients—salary in May 19812  15,200 (—) 22,400 (—) 16,300 (—) 17,300 (—) 11,500 (—) $13,700 (—) 14,500 (—) 16,300 (—) $12,500 (—) 14,000 (—) (†) 12,600 (—) (†) 15,100 (—)
1983–84 recipients—salary in June 19852  17,700 (—) 24,100 (—) 18,700 (—) 20,800 (—) 13,800 (—) 15,100 (—) 15,100 (—) 17,500 (—) 14,600 (—) 15,800 (—) (†) 14,000 (—) $16,200 (—) 18,600 (—)
1985–86 recipients—salary in June 1987 20,400 (—) 26,600 (—) 21,100 (—) 22,600 (—) 15,800 (—) 17,700 (—) 16,400 (—) 22,500 (—) 17,300 (—) 20,300 (—) (†) 16,200 (—) (†) 17,600 (—)
1989–90 recipients—salary in June 1991 23,600 (—) 30,900 (—) 24,700 (—) 31,500 (—) 19,100 (—) 20,800 (—) 21,100 (—) 27,200 (—) 19,200 (—) 22,200 (—) (†) 19,100 (—) (†) 20,800 (—)
1992–93 recipients—salary in April 19942  24,200 (—) 30,900 (—) 27,100 (—) 31,300 (—) 19,300 (—) 22,000 (—) 22,800 (—) 25,400 (—) 19,500 (—) 22,100 (—) $21,000 (—) 21,300 (—) (†) 21,600 (—)
1999–2000 recipients—salary in 20012  35,400 (320) 47,900 (790) 41,000 (940) 39,400 (1,090) 27,600 (350) 30,400 (1,050) 30,700 (980) 42,800 (940) 28,800 (910) 33,900 (920) 30,000 (1,050) 30,100 (850) (†) 32,800 (630)
  Constant 2005 dollars
1974–75 recipients—salary in February 19762  $26,100 (—) $41,900 (—) $35,000 (—) $29,500 (—) $21,600 (—) (†) $22,300 (—) $24,000 (—) (†) $23,000 (—) (†) $19,900 (—) (†) $23,300 (—)
1979–80 recipients—salary in May 19812  32,700 (—) 48,100 (—) 35,000 (—) 37,200 (—) 24,700 (—) $29,400 (—) 31,200 (—) 35,000 (—) $26,900 (—) 30,100 (—) (†) 27,100 (—) (†) 32,400 (—)
1983–84 recipients—salary in June 19852  32,100 (—) 43,700 (—) 33,900 (—) 37,800 (—) 25,000 (—) 27,400 (—) 27,400 (—) 31,800 (—) 26,500 (—) 28,700 (—) (†) 25,400 (—) $29,400 (—) 33,800 (—)
1985–86 recipients—salary in June 1987 35,100 (—) 45,700 (—) 36,300 (—) 38,900 (—) 27,200 (—) 30,400 (—) 28,200 (—) 38,700 (—) 29,700 (—) 34,900 (—) (†) 27,900 (—) (†) 30,300 (—)
1989–90 recipients—salary in June 1991 33,800 (—) 44,300 (—) 35,400 (—) 45,200 (—) 27,400 (—) 29,800 (—) 30,300 (—) 39,000 (—) 27,500 (—) 31,800 (—) (†) 27,400 (—) (†) 29,800 (—)
1992–93 recipients—salary in April 19942  31,900 (—) 40,700 (—) 35,700 (—) 41,200 (—) 25,400 (—) 29,000 (—) 30,000 (—) 33,500 (—) 25,700 (—) 29,100 (—) $27,700 (—) 28,100 (—) (†) 28,500 (—)
1999–2000 recipients—salary in 20012  39,000 (350) 52,900 (870) 45,200 (1,040) 43,500 (1,200) 30,500 (380) 33,500 (1,160) 33,900 (1,080) 47,100 (1,080) 31,800 (1,000) 37,400 (1,010) 33,100 (1,160) 33,200 (930) (†) 36,100 (690)
Percent change, in constant 2005 dollars                                                        
1976 to 2001 49.7 (—) 26.2 (—) 29.2 (—) 47.3 (—) 40.9 (—) (†) 52.0 (—) 96.2 (—) (†) 62.5 (—) (†) 66.7 (—) (†) 54.9 (—)
1991 to 2001 15.4 (—) 19.3 (—) 27.5 (—) -3.6 (—) 11.2 (—) 12.4 (—) 12.3 (—) 21.1 (—) 15.8 (—) 17.3 (—) (†) 21.5 (—) (†) 21.4 (—)
—Not available.
†Not applicable.
1 Most educators work 9- to 10-month contracts.
2 Reported salaries of full-time workers under $2,600 in 1976, $4,200 in 1981, $5,000 in 1985, and $1,000 in 1994 and 2001 were excluded from the tabulations. Also, those with salaries over $500,000 in 1994 and 2001 were excluded.
NOTE: Data exclude bachelor's recipients from U.S. Service Schools, deceased graduates, and graduates living at foreign addresses at the time of the survey. Constant dollars based on the Consumer Price Index, prepared by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, U.S. Department of Labor. Standard errors appear in parentheses.
SOURCE: U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, "Recent College Graduates" surveys, 1976 through 1991; and 1993/94 and 2000/01 Baccalaureate and Beyond Longitudinal Study (B&B:93/94 and B&B:2000/01). (This table was prepared August 2006.)
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