University of Virginia Library

Increases In Starting Salary
Slacken With Job Demand

What were once branded as
runaway starting salaries for college
graduates came to a near standstill
in 1970-71, presumably the result
of the current supply/demand ratio.

During the mid-1960's
beginning salaries for male college
seniors and graduate students rose
steadily, usually at the rate of 5%
to 7% a year. In some shortage
categories, increases occasionally
were even greater. This year it was a
different story, according to Mr.
Lawrence Simpson, placement
director at University of Virginia,
one of the specially selected
institutions participating in the
College Placement Council's Salary
Survey. Data for the year-end
report revealed that none of the
disciplines covered realized
increases greater than 2% over last
year; most stayed at about the same
level, and some decreased.

Women graduates fared
somewhat better, the Council
found in a separate study.
Beginning salaries offered this year
to women students went up as
much as 9% in a few categories and
increased over 3% in a number of
others.

Salary Study

The twin studies on salary offers
resulting from campus recruiting
are conducted each year by the
Council, the non-profit
international organization which
provides various services for
colleges and employers to assist
students in their career planning
and employment. Data for the
men's study cover actual offers
made by business and industrial
firms as reported by 140
representative colleges and
universities from coast to coast.
Information for the women's study
is reported by types of positions.
Additionally, the women's study
covers government employment
while the men's study does not.

While college recruiting activity
dropped significantly in the last
two years beginning salary rates had
continued to advance during
1969-70 at a pace only slightly
slower than in the previous decade.
This past year, however, the impact
of fewer jobs being available
became apparent. The cooling trend
extended to dollar averages as well
as to volume in the men's study and
certain areas of the women's study.

Bachelor's Level

At the bachelor's level, the final
averages for male candidates in
non-technical curricula, other than
accounting, were slightly under
those at the close of last year, with
general business at $716 compared
to $721 for 1969-70. Accounting,
which had been attracting sizable
increases in recent years, went up
only 1% to $856 in 1970-71. The
dollar averages for engineering
curricula ranged from 1% to 2%
higher than last year. Chemical
engineering continued to attract the
highest bachelor's dollar average,
$920 a month, while the dollar
average for engineering curricula
generally was $879.

In the science areas dollar value
of offers dropped along with
volume. At the end of the season,
the average were: chemistry $795,
mathematics $787, and physics
$826.

Master's Level

At the master's level, master of
business administration
candidates with a technical
undergraduate degree closed the
year with the top dollar average,
$1,111, one dollar under last year's
final figure. MBA's with a
non-technical background ended at
exactly the same figure as last year,
$1,044. MBA candidates were the
only graduating students receiving
offers in numbers comparable to
last year. Most master's engineering
disciplines ran 1% to just under 2%
above last year's final dollar
averages, with the exception of
industrial which dropped 1%.
Average dollar values ranged
between $978 for civil engineering
to $1,054 for chemical engineering.

Data at the doctoral level were
too sparse to draw meaningful
conclusions, the Council stated.

Salary Increase

In the Council's Salary Survey
for women, which is limited to the
bachelor's-degree level, 2 of the 15
types of positions studied
experienced increases of 9% this
past year. Medical workers finished
with an average of $681 a month, a
gain of 16% over a two-year period.
Merchandising ended with a $607
average, representing a 15% gain
in two years.

Engineering remained the
highest paid category for women,
going up 3% to $885 making the
rate comparable to that of male
engineers. In the last two years
women engineers have experienced
a 11% increase in average starting
salary while their male counterparts
have received a 7% increase.