USQ grads earn the best bucks
UNIVERSITY of Southern Queensland graduates are the highest paid in the country, according to new research.
On average, graduates end up with a starting salary of $61,000 after finishing their studies.
USQ graduates also have the second-highest rate of employability - with 82.5% of students going on to full time employment within four months of graduating.
The results earned USQ a five star rating for graduate employment and starting salary in the newly released Good Universities Guide 2018.
The Toowoomba university’s figures for employment compare well against the national average of 69.5%, and their starting salaries sit $5,000 above the national average of $56,000.
USQ interim Vice-Chancellor Professor Janet Verbyla said the university’s stellar results in the Good Universities Guide 2018 came down to “a focus on courses and a high level of students who worked part-time during their studies”.
“A lot of our offerings are around the professions and many of our students are already in part-time work,” Professor Verbyla said.
“That combination means they get more out of their education, finish with high employability skills and often have already gained employment.
“We partner with industry to design and develop world-class and practical programs to develop graduates who are both workplace ready and future proofed.”
The guide criteria is broken down into quality of
educational experience, overall employment rates of graduates and the median salary of graduates from different universities across Australia.
USQ also received a five star rating from the new edition of the Good Universities Guide for the area of social equity.
However, regional students didn’t rate their university experiences as favourably as those in the cities did, suggesting a good experience at university and landing a job upon graduating were not necessarily linked.
At USQ, engineering led the way with the highest percentage for the full-time employment measure.