Yahoo Finance Australia’s technology universities on par with elite institutions
Australia’s sandstone universities may have the upper hand when it comes to reputation and social status but graduates don’t reap the benefits in the job market.
A new report by the Grattan Institute reveals that graduates of technology universities have a similar starting salary to those with a degree from Australia’s prestigious sandstone universities.
Graduates with bachelor degrees from sandstone or technology universities were likely to earn about six per cent more over a 40-year career than graduates from Australia's other universities.
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The report, Mapping Australian Higher Education, 2014-15, found that when it comes to salaries, the degree undertaken is far more significant than studying at a particular university.
According to the report, a law graduate is likely to earn $400,000 more than if they had completed a science degree.
Norton says that if you want to earn the most money, what you study matters more than where you study.
“Graduates of the technology universities do just as well as those from the more prestigious sandstone universities,” Grattan Higher Education Director Andrew Norton said.
“Studying engineering at any university is likely to lead to a higher salary than studying arts at a sandstone university," Norton said.
The research suggests that students benefit the most from technology universities because the earnings outcomes are similar to those who have graduated from a ‘Group of Eight’ university while fees are typically lower.
Related: Australian universities improve slightly in world rankings
The report also casts doubt on the authority of world rankings, considering the large differences in rankings between technology universities (such as RMIT, Curtin and Queensland University of Technology) and their sandstone counterparts - while salaries remain largely unaffected.
The findings come amidst a push by the government to see university fees deregulated, which would allow universities to charge what they like for students to study at their instution.
