Income Prospects of British Columbia University Graduates

Using a new dataset which combines the 1982-1997 tax records and administrative records of British Columbia bachelors graduates from the classes of 1974-96, the real market income of graduates is examined, focussing on changes in income between graduating cohorts, as well as differences across major fields of study. For men and women BC graduates, there has been a decline in real annual income received after graduation for more recent cohorts which is eventually offset by a higher growth rate in income. Also, annual incomes after graduation are relatively high for graduates with applied degrees such as in the engineering, education, and health fields, however, incomes converge as graduate cohorts age. The former finding is at odds with those of Beaudry and Green (1997) who found that weekly earnings declined across cohorts for male university graduates, with no offsetting rise in the growth rate (their results were more similar for women). Differences may be due to this paper's use of annual income as an outcome measure, or its focus on BC student's outcomes rather than national outcomes.