Postsecondary students five years after graduation: How much do they earn?

Warning View the most recent version.

Archived Content

Information identified as archived is provided for reference, research or recordkeeping purposes. It is not subject to the Government of Canada Web Standards and has not been altered or updated since it was archived. Please "contact us" to request a format other than those available.

Archived

This page has been archived on the Web.

Release date: December 4, 2019

More Information PDF version

Infographic: Postsecondary students five years after graduation: How much do they earn?
Description: Postsecondary students five years after graduation: How much do they earn?

Postsecondary students five years after graduation: How much do they earn?

Nearly 180,000 postsecondary graduates of 2012, aged 15 to 64, entered the labour market after graduation and were still in the labour market five years later.Footnote 1

Fields of study with the highest median employment income,Footnote 2 five years after graduation:

College-level diploma

  • Engineering technology $64,800
  • Mechanics and repair, architecture, construction and precision production $58,600
  • Physical and chemical science $51,800

Undergraduate degree

  • Engineering technology $78,000
  • Engineering $77,600
  • Nursing $75,100

Master's degree

  • Nursing $97,100
  • Law $94,600
  • Business and related studies $93,700
Median employment income two and five years after graduation:
Educational qualification 2 years later 5 years later
College-level certificate $35,100 $38,300
College-level diploma $41,400 $45,300
Undergraduate degree $46,600 $56,800
Professional degreeFootnote 3 $79,500 $94,300
Master's degree $65,700 $74,500
Doctoral degree $61,100 $78,800

Of the 346,200 graduates of the 2012 class, 94,570 returned to school full time at some point in the five years after graduation.

Did you know? While STEMFootnote 4 graduates with a college-level certificate, college-level diploma or undergraduate degree earn more than their BHASE (non-STEM) counterparts both two and five years after graduation, BHASE graduates with a master's degree or doctoral degree earn more than their STEM counterparts.

Source: Statistics Canada. Postsecondary Student Information System (PSIS), 2009/2010 to 2015/2016 and T1 Family File (T1FF), 2011 to 2017.

More information

Note of appreciation

Canada owes the success of its statistical system to a long-standing partnership between Statistics Canada, the citizens of Canada, its businesses, governments and other institutions. Accurate and timely statistical information could not be produced without their continued co-operation and goodwill.

Standards of service to the public

Statistics Canada is committed to serving its clients in a prompt, reliable and courteous manner. To this end, the Agency has developed standards of service which its employees observe in serving its clients.

Copyright

Published by authority of the Minister responsible for Statistics Canada.

© Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada as represented by the Minister of Industry, 2019

Use of this publication is governed by the Statistics Canada Open Licence Agreement.

Catalogue no. 11-627-M

Frequency: Occasional

Ottawa

Date modified: