Stagnant Wage Growth for New College Graduates

Students who graduated from college in 2018 with a bachelor's degree earned an average starting salary of $50,944 per year, according to the latest version of an annual survey conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE). That overall average is almost $500 more than last year's average of $50,516 for new graduates, the nonprofit group said. And the 2018 figure is up just 1.4 percent from the 2015 average of $50,219.

The survey also includes discipline-specific averages. For the last three years, computer science graduates have topped the list. But the average staring salary for graduates in this major, $71,411, is down 1.7 percent from last year's average of $72,677. Meanwhile, the annual starting salary for engineering graduates ($66,638) was up 1.7 percent, while the average for business graduates was slightly down, to $52,040.