Starting salaries for graduates are continuing to rise despite the worldwide economic slowdown. According to a new study by the National Association of Colleges and Employers, the average starting pay for all majors has increased by 7.1% over the past 12 months, BusinessWeek reports. Increases by individual major include 4% for business, 4.7% for marketing and 2.9% for accounting. This is despite previously gloomy predictions that new graduates would see their paycheques shrink as employers tighten their belts. Indeed some experts believe salaries will continue to rise because of the continuing need for qualified, skilled employees. Jeannette Frett, assistant head and director of career management for the MBA program at Georgetown's McDonough School of Business, said: "It's really about supply and demand". And, while the pace of job growth for graduates is set to slow, the number of new hires is still set to increase by 8% this year. According to figures from the National Center for Education Statistics for 2004-05, business is the most popular degree subject in the US, accounting for 311,574 of the 1,439,264 bachelor's degrees awarded that year.  |