Rhode Island Colleges With the Highest Paying Majors
Wednesday, June 12, 2013
Rhode Island college students who earned engineering and technical degrees will be making much higher salaries than the rest of the Class of 2013, according to a new report by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). NACE released the numbers as part of its April 2013 Salary Survey, which takes a first look at starting salaries for this spring's graduating class.
With the list of the Top 10 highest-paying majors, GoLocalProv wanted to know which Rhode Island colleges offered the most of these high-salary majors. The University of Rhode Island had the most of the majors listed, offering 4 out of the 10 top-paying majors. "We are very proud to have some of the top-paying majors on the job market right now. Engineering and technical workers are highly sought after, and they along with computer science are very comeptitive fields," said Carolyn Thomas, Interim Director of Career Services at URI. "Students have options when it comes to what jobs they can take. We have many more job opportunities afforded to our students than we have graduates."
Thomas also credits the working relationships that Career Services has with the academic departments. "We work very hard with the programs. We have employers coming in from dynamics and tech firms that meet with students, not just to practice their interview and resumé skills, but to share information with them about their companies and help them understand what it's like after graduation."
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTFor a run-down of how many top-paying majors are offered at Rhode Island colleges, look below.
"NACE’s Salary Survey results are right in line with Johnson & Wales University’s philosophy of offering majors that are in demand by industry. JWU students leaving with technology degrees in engineering and computer science degrees are very much in demand," said Sheri Ispir, Director of Experiential Education and Career Services at JWU. "Whether it’s in business, technology, or other majors, JWU students are exposed to faculty who come from industry experience and participative in our national internship program that leads to job offers."
Thanks to their preparation via internships, graduates from Johnson & Wales University are doing better than even the NACE Salary Survey results report for the national average. "Last year, 70% of JWU seniors who participated in paid internships were offered a job from their internship employer. That compares to 60% reported by the NACE for seniors nation-wide in paid internships," said Ispir.
Things might be looking up for recent grads across the board. According to the NACE's report, starting salaries rose across all professional areas–from business to health sciences, to communications, to education, humanities and social sciences–from under 2 percent to almost 10 percent. The overall starting salary is $44,928, up 5.3 percent over last year's graduates, whose realized salary was $42,666.
Find an executive summary of the NACE's report, including top-paying industries, average salaries, and top-hiring industries here. And check out which Rhode Island colleges are offering these high-paying majors.
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