Although the average hourly wage for interns has continued to rise over the past 10 years, due to inflation, it has declined in real terms. Meanwhile, the average hourly wage for co-ops dipped slightly but is up in terms of inflation rates.

An important consideration for employers offering paid internships—an undertaking that should be performed annually—is setting intern salaries.

With a projected overall average salary of $94,212, computer sciences graduates are expected to be the top earners among Class of 2026 master’s degree grads.

Starting salary projections show promise for the upcoming Class of 2026. Nearly all categories of reported majors are showing healthy increases that range from 3.1% for engineering majors to 6.9% for computer sciences majors.

Approximately 86% of bachelor’s degree graduates and 89% of master’s degree grads from the Class of 2024 were employed or enrolled in further education within six months of graduation, according to NACE’s First Destinations for the College Class of 2024 report.

Although there remains a salary advantage for college graduates earning master's degrees, the differential in starting salaries between bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees among top majors is diminishing.

The overall average salary for new college graduates has experienced a slight uptick as the final overall average salary is up 2.2% over the Class of 2023’s average.

Class of 2025 engineering and business graduates at the master’s degree level are expected to see salaries climb 12.5% and 3.1%, respectively, according to results of NACE’s Winter 2025 Salary Survey.

The Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act of 2009 and pay transparency laws enacted by a number of states are helping to advance equal pay for equal or similar work.

Overall, starting salary projections for the Class of 2025 are something of a mixed bag as projected movement in salaries ranges from a gain of 2.8% for agriculture and natural resources to a decrease of 3.6% for the social sciences.

Hiring for the college Class of 2025 is expected to increase 7.3% over hiring for the Class of 2024, according to NACE’s Job Outlook 2025 survey.

Salaries for college graduates overall continue to climb as, for the second straight year, the increase in average salary for a graduating class has surpassed 7%.

Recent studies reveal that systemic barriers continue to limit progress on achieving pay equity for all, but there are tangible, proven ways that career centers and employers can make an impact.

There is good news for the Class of 2024: Salary projections for all reported groups of majors are higher than the projections reported for the Class of 2023

Early data from a forthcoming NACE study indicate that the gender pay gap has widened over the past year, with female graduates now earning just 72 cents to every dollar earned by male graduates, down from around 81 cents.

Signed into law in 1963, the Equal Pay Act prohibits pay discrimination based on sex. However, 60 years since the passage of the law, women continue to experience a pay gap, relative to men.

The average hourly wage for 2020-21 bachelor’s level interns and co-ops was identical at $20.82, according to results of NACE’s 2022 Internship & Co-op Survey Report.

Students who took paid internships or co-ops were more likely to receive an offer of full-time employment and a higher salary offer from their employers than were students who took unpaid internships or co-ops, according to results of NACE’s Class of 2015 Student Survey.

Using NACE’s Salary Survey report, Andrea Koncz offers a historical perspective on starting salaries to new college graduates from 1960 through 2015. The overall economy, corporate scandals, new legal requirements, the dot-com bubble and burst—a variety of factors have affected the rise and fall of starting salaries for new college graduates over the past half century. Overall, in real terms, bachelor’s degree level salaries have risen 5.9 percent since 1960.

Average starting salary projections for the Class of 2022 range from an increase of 5.4% to a decrease of 14.8%.