College Grad Starting Average Salary Jumps 3.4% to $44,455

The average starting salary for new college graduates earning bachelor’s degrees has risen 3.4 percent over last year, according to the January 2013 Salary Survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE).

The survey found that the overall increase has carried the average starting salary for 2012 college graduates earning bachelor’s degrees to $44,455, outpacing the 2011 average salary of $42,987.

The highest increases came in education (5.4 percent, to $40,668), business (4.2 percent, to $53,900), and communications (4.1 percent, to $43,717).

Engineering and health sciences majors—both of which received starting salaries that are 3.9 percent more than last year—also saw sizable gains. The average starting salary for engineering graduates was $61,913 this year, while their classmates in health sciences earned $49,196.

Similarly, graduates with computer sciences degrees saw a substantial increase to their average starting salary—a jump of 3.8 percent to $59,221.

Meanwhile, graduates with degrees in math and sciences (2.7 percent, to $42,471) and humanities and social sciences (2 percent, to $36,988) saw smaller increases.