Return on Degrees: Which to Pick?

Singapore's university applications season is in full swing. Universities are concluding their inaugural virtual open houses, and applications will close shortly. This application season has seen some unique initiatives, like SUTD's campus replica built on Minecraft, 360-degree VR tours of NTU's campus and live online Q&As with faculty members and students. This period is crucial for university applicants to decide how to chart their course of study for the next three to four years.

There was a bit of buzz about "starting salaries" of late. SMU has released its 2019 Graduate Employment Survey, featuring "all-time high starting salaries". Meanwhile, there were astute applicants who asked a point-blank question about Accountancy graduates' starting salaries at NTU Business' live Q&As.

This question hit close to home. Having spent three years in NTU majoring in Accountancy, I was interested to know how Accounting students fair in relativity to our fellow peers. I figured it might be worthwhile to see which courses give the best Return on Degree:

1. Which course gives the highest starting salary,
2. While being the relatively easiest to get in, and
3. Has the highest employment rate?

That being said, quantitative measures are not the only things to consider. It is equally, if not doubly, important to consider qualitative factors. For example - interest and/or passion, aptitude for the subject, etc. I've seen many friends who pick the most practical course and end up switching out because of a severe lack of interest. It is, thus, crucial to consider whether you'll be able to withstand three to four years of the course, and beyond. These figures should not form the sole basis for anyone's decision.

Here are some observations on the Graduate Employment Survey (GES):

Starting Salaries for Information Technology is on the Rise

Majority of Singapore graduates' median monthly starting salaries hover between $3,000 to $4,000. Unsurprisingly, Medicine, Dentistry and Law students have topped the charts with median salaries over $5,000. From 2018, Information Technology (IT) (i.e. Computer Science, Information Systems) graduands are breaking out of the norm and commanding higher salaries and relatively high employment rates.

Note: Difficulty to Enter is a weighted-average of the relative requirements for A Level and Polytechnic graduates based on the 10th percentile score. A score of 1.0 indicates that the 10th Percentile for entry is the highest among other courses compared.

If you're curious to know - the relatively easier course to enter with a higher starting salary is SMU's Information Systems Programme. The heightened starting pay for IT graduates could be owed to IMDA's TechSkills Accelerator initiative, which includes grants for Company-Led Training Programmes. For qualifying roles in IT, IMDA sponsors part of the employee's starting salary - perhaps allowing employers to offer a higher starting salary to IT graduates. An example of this is PwC's Digital Trust role - where IMDA pays 25% of the new employee's salary to undergo training.

What About the Rest of Us?

While there isn't a clear trend, it seems like Business and Electrical Engineering comes out pretty well. Architecture students fair well too. However, it is worth noting that these figures reflect the performance of 2016's cohort, as Architecture students are only surveyed after completing three-years of practical training. It is worth noting that the median could potentially be higher because of the number of students who go into Finance and Analytics roles, which typically pay higher.

Accountancy & Business: NTU v NUS v SMU

With 2019's GES data in, the assertion in the applicant's question that "Accountancy students earn less than the average" is sadly, confirmed. In addition - it seems like SMU and NUS students command a higher salary than their peers in NTU. There has not been a directly attributable reason for this. Some have suggested that being in a four-year course (SMU, NUS) gives students leeway to undertake more internships, gain more experience and garner higher paying positions. Or, that NTU students need to become better at "selling ourselves".

We should, however, come back to this point in a few years. With a recent change in NTU's curriculum for Accounting and Business, students will now have to undertake an internship in Year 1. This gets them looking for internships earlier, and hopefully will increase the exposure they get through multiple internships. I hope this does not translate to an over-obsession with internships. While reflecting on my university days (read: The Words Unsaid), I still believe it is important to live your life during your university days.

How Quickly can you Earn Back your Course Fees?

Not all degrees are priced similarly. While Medicine and Law students command the highest pay, their school fees are hefty (at approximately $29,000 and $12,000) respectively. Another dimension worth considering is how quickly you'll earn back the school fees.

For its current demand in the market, Computer Science students seem to be able to recoup their tuition fees the fastest - at slightly over half-a-year. It's no surprise that admissions to computing courses have become increasingly competitive in the recent years.

SMU's courses rank the lowest in this domain - owed to their 30-40% higher school fees. Their more expensive school fees are not offset by the slightly higher starting salaries which their graduates enjoy.

P.S. For fellow NTU Accountancy graduates - ours is ranked 36 out of 64 courses analysed, at 9.4 months to repay.

Note: Figures here consider absolute amounts; they do not account for the time value of money. The 'months to repay' is derived by dividing the total tuition fees by the gross monthly median salary.

Optimising our Choices

Which course then, ranks favourably relative to other courses? I've put together a ranking table that considers:

1. Months to Repay the Tuition Fees: The fastest to repay is NUS Computing (Computer Science), with a gross monthly median salary of $5,000 and a total course fee of $32,804 (at 2019). The higher gross monthly median salary really helps in this case.
2. Employment (Overall) Percentage: 6 courses enjoy a 100% employment rate - Architecture, Arts (Education), Science (Education), Medicine, Dentistry and Pharmacy. That's probably because majority of these graduands are bonded.
3. Gross Monthly Median Salary: The highest gross monthly median salary is NTU Medicine, at $5,700. Bear in mind that their course fees are the highest, and that it takes the longest to repay tuition fees for NTU Medicine (at 2.5 years).
4. Difficulty for Entry: Ranked 1 to 64, based on the 10th percentile indicative grade.

Thanks, Augustine for the idea of creating a scorecard.

For those who are in the midst of choosing your course: these quantitative indicators are not everything. Do consider other qualitative factors, and think about whether you will actually like the course or not. Look up the course websites and the curriculum to make your decision. Due diligence will pay off! :-)

For those of us who have graduated: after reviewing this table, would you have chosen otherwise on hindsight?

?Data Sources and Interpretation Notes

Comparable data, where available, was included in this analysis. There may be some courses omitted due to the unavailability of information - for example, no information was disclosed for NUS Medicine in 2018. In addition, new courses such as NTU's Data Science and Artificial Intelligence is omitted as there is no historical data on salaries. In such cases, other factors may be used to support your analysis/decision.

Sources Used:

1. 2013-2017: Data.gov.sg - Graduate Employment Survey - NTU, NUS, SIT, SMU & SUTD
2. 2018: Digital Senior - Graduate Employment Survey (GES) of NUS, NTU, SMU
3. 2019: Respective University's Websites

The visualisation was built using Power BI. Feel free to reach out if you'd like the source file or the dashboard. Let me know what you think, or if there's anything you felt could be further explored.