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Digest of Education Statistics
2007 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest


Table 381. 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 2006 dollars
1974-75 recipients—salary in February 19762  $26,900 (—) $43,200 (—) $36,100 (—) $30,500 (—) $22,300 (—) (†) $23,000 (—) $24,800 (—) (†) $23,700 (—) (†) $20,500 (—) (†) $24,100 (—)
1979-80 recipients—salary in May 19812  33,700 (—) 49,700 (—) 36,100 (—) 38,400 (—) 25,500 (—) $30,400 (—) 32,200 (—) 36,100 (—) $27,700 (—) 31,000 (—) (†) 27,900 (—) (†) 33,500 (—)
1983-84 recipients—salary in June 19852  33,200 (—) 45,200 (—) 35,000 (—) 39,000 (—) 25,900 (—) 28,300 (—) 28,300 (—) 32,800 (—) 27,400 (—) 29,600 (—) (†) 26,200 (—) $30,400 (—) 34,800 (—)
1985-86 recipients—salary in June 1987 36,200 (—) 47,200 (—) 37,400 (—) 40,100 (—) 28,000 (—) 31,400 (—) 29,100 (—) 39,900 (—) 30,700 (—) 36,000 (—) (†) 28,700 (—) (†) 31,200 (—)
1989-90 recipients—salary in June 1991 34,900 (—) 45,700 (—) 36,600 (—) 46,600 (—) 28,300 (—) 30,800 (—) 31,200 (—) 40,300 (—) 28,400 (—) 32,900 (—) (†) 28,300 (—) (†) 30,800 (—)
1992-93 recipients—salary in April 19942  32,900 (—) 42,000 (—) 36,900 (—) 42,600 (—) 26,300 (—) 29,900 (—) 31,000 (—) 34,600 (—) 26,500 (—) 30,100 (—) $28,600 (—) 29,000 (—) (†) 29,400 (—)
1999-2000 recipients—salary in 20012  40,300 (360) 54,600 (900) 46,700 (1,070) 44,900 (1,240) 31,500 (390) 34,600 (1,200) 35,000 (1,110) 48,700 (1,120) 32,800 (1,030) 38,600 (1,040) 34,100 (1,200) 34,300 (960) (†) 37,300 (710)
Percent change, in constant 2006 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 July 2007.)

2007 Tables and Figures All Years of Tables and Figures Most Recent Full Issue of the Digest