MINNEAPOLIS — Editor's Note: This video originally aired May 14, 2024.
Our newest college graduates are entering the workforce, and as for where they might be going, money might be a good indicator.
According to the most recent salary survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), it pays to be in STEM. With a bachelor's degree, engineers, technicians and software developers are projected to make roughly $75,000 this year. They're among the top paying jobs in the survey.
Those are in line with the highest paying disciplines after a bachelor's degree — engineering and computer sciences take the top spots, followed by math and sciences. Agriculture and Natural Resources ranks last among the categories, with a salary projection of roughly $61,000.
E.J. Daigle is the Dean of Advanced Manufacturing, Robotics, Automotive Technology, & Computer Technology and School of Engineering at Dunwoody College.
Electronics and robotics are among the hottest fields at the college, he said. Well-paying, too, Daigle said a third of the interns he oversees were making more than $30 an hour before graduation.
"It's a great number. That's over $2 an hour more than it was last year at this time," Daigle said. "Not only is it hot right now from the pay standpoint, I'm getting calls right now from employers from all over the Twin Cities trying to hire these folks, and they're all already spoken for."
Paychecks are already looking to be different for Paige Leone, who is in her first year at Dunwoody after completing a four-year degree in Wisconsin plus working two years as a lab technician.
"If I were to get a job in the machining field right now for the summer, I'd be making the same if not a little more than after my four years in undergrad and two years in the workforce," Leone said.
While money isn't everything, it is a factor driving decisions on the road beyond college.
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