By Singapore Rat Race
Graduate Employment Survey (GES) results were released by MOE on Friday (28 Feb). This annual survey is jointly conducted by Nanyang Technological University (NTU), National University of Singapore (NUS) and Singapore Management University (SMU) to survey the employment conditions of graduates about six months after their final examinations.
The media was quick to trumpet the good news that 8 in 10 graduates found a full-time job within 6 months of graduation. As reported on Channel News Asia, “About eight in 10 graduates from the three autonomous universities in Singapore found a full-time job within six months.
However looking at the breakdown of the full-time permanent employment rate by degree. The lowest employment rate is an alarming 53%! (The lowest in 2012 was 59%). There are 22 degrees that fell below 80% full-time permanent employment rate.
emp rate below 80
CNA further reported, “Fresh graduates with engineering or accountancy-related qualifications were particularly in demand across the board, while others included business, nursing, and maritime studies.”
This is an exaggeration. You can see that bioengineering and biological sciences (NUS and NTU) are on the decline.
And that the median pay for graduates with nursing qualification (without Honours) is stagnant at $2,950, which is the same as 2012. Notice the spread between Percentile 25 and Percentile 75 is only $300.
On the other end of the spectrum, top performers in terms of employment rate exceeding 90%. And in terms of remuneration,  law degrees from SMU and NUS stands out from the rest with a median pay of above $5000.
Degrees that gave graduates 100% employment after graduation.
Qualification University Faculty Year of survey Employment Rate 25th Percentile Median 75th Percentile
Bachelor of Dental Surgery NUS Faculty of Dentistry 2013 100.00% $4,000 $4,000 $4,400
Bachelor of Science (Nursing) (Hons) NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine 2013 100.00% $3,000 $3,025 $3,200
Bachelor of Medicine & Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine 2013 100.00% $4,500 $4,500 $5,200
Science (with Education) NTU National Institute of Education (NIE) 2013 100.00% $3,300 $3,498 $3,800
Arts (with Education) NTU National Institute of Education (NIE) 2013 100.00% $3,400 $3,498 $3,575
Law (4-year programme) SMU School of Law 2013 100.00% $4,500 $5,000 $6,000
Law (4-year programme) (cum laude & above) SMU School of Law 2013 100.00% $4,750 $5,547 $6,400

To view more on the released data, visit http://sgratrace.appspot.com and compare for yourself on the released data of GES 2013.

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