Ministry of Education, Singapore

GRADUATE EMPLOYMENT SURVEY

6,188 graduates from NUS were surveyed in Nov 2015 and the overall response rate obtained
was 74.8%.
NUS: 2015 GES Employment Rates1 and Salaries of Graduates by Bachelor Degree
Overall
Employment
Rate2 (%)

Full-Time
Permanent
Employment
Rate3 (%)

Bachelor of Arts

88.4

Bachelor of Arts (Hons)

83.0

Bachelor of Social Sciences

Degree

Basic Monthly Salary4

($)

Gross Monthly Salary5 ($)

Mean

Median

Mean

Median

25th
Percentile

75th
Percentile

74.6

$2,839

$2,880

$2,999

$3,000

$2,700

$3,215

70.5

$3,266

$3,310

$3,310

$3,310

$3,000

$3,625

88.6

79.8

$3,317

$3,300

$3,442

$3,310

$3,000

$3,686

Bachelor of Business Administration

88.2

80.3

$3,164

$3,000

$3,341

$3,000

$2,800

$3,700

Bachelor of Business Administration (Hons)

96.0

93.1

$4,173

$3,750

$4,326

$3,800

$3,300

$4,600

Bachelor of Business Administration (Accountancy)

Bachelor of Business Administration (Accountancy)
(Hons)
School of Computing
Bachelor of Computing (Communications and
Media)
Bachelor of Computing (Computational Biology)**

97.6

97.6

$2,817

$2,850

$2,983

$2,850

$2,700

$2,960

98.6

98.6

$3,547

$3,000

$3,587

$3,000

$2,850

$3,634

92.6

85.2

$3,230

$3,500

$3,291

$3,500

$2,800

$3,800

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

Bachelor of Computing (Computer Engineering)**

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

Bachelor of Computing (Computer Science)

97.0

95.0

$3,847

$3,700

$3,890

$3,700

$3,300

$4,400

Bachelor of Computing (Electronic Commerce)

90.3

87.1

$3,255

$3,300

$3,301

$3,300

$3,000

$3,500

Bachelor of Computing (Information Systems)

97.2

97.2

$3,597

$3,500

$3,699

$3,550

$3,200

$4,100

100.0

100.0

$4,053

$4,000

$4,083

$4,000

$4,000

$4,400

Bachelor of Arts (Architecture)6

97.6

96.4

$4,054

$4,114

$4,099

$4,127

$3,700

$4,500

Bachelor of Arts (Industrial Design)

Bachelor of Science (Project and Facilities
Management)
Bachelor of Science (Real Estate)

72.0

60.0

$2,907

$3,000

$2,908

$3,000

$2,700

$3,200

94.3

90.8

$2,989

$3,000

$3,067

$3,000

$2,800

$3,215

93.9

89.6

$3,146

$3,000

$3,325

$3,100

$2,810

$3,500

Bachelor of Engineering (Biomedical Engineering)

86.2

75.9

$3,256

$3,200

$3,357

$3,300

$3,000

$3,500

Bachelor of Engineering (Chemical Engineering)

86.0

82.9

$3,400

$3,300

$3,529

$3,500

$3,000

$4,000

Bachelor of Engineering (Civil Engineering)

96.5

95.3

$3,300

$3,300

$3,366

$3,350

$3,200

$3,500

Bachelor of Engineering (Computer Engineering)

91.8

90.6

$4,119

$4,000

$4,252

$4,000

$3,325

$4,583

Bachelor of Engineering (Electrical Engineering)

92.1

90.4

$3,452

$3,200

$3,589

$3,300

$3,000

$3,700

Bachelor of Engineering (Engineering Science)

Bachelor of Engineering (Environmental
Engineering)
Bachelor of Engineering (Industrial and Systems
Engineering)
Bachelor of Engineering (Materials Science and
Engineering)
Bachelor of Engineering (Mechanical Engineering)

82.6

73.9

$3,768

$3,735

$3,812

$3,800

$3,500

$4,420

88.1

85.7

$3,318

$3,430

$3,337

$3,450

$3,000

$3,670

96.1

94.7

$3,624

$3,475

$3,724

$3,500

$3,300

$4,030

100.0

95.0

$3,121

$3,200

$3,391

$3,350

$3,050

$3,790

83.3

80.0

$3,279

$3,200

$3,422

$3,300

$3,000

$3,600

96.9

96.9

$4,866

$4,600

$4,910

$4,700

$4,200

$5,800

Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery6

100.0

100.0

$4,352

$4,500

$4,729

$4,900

$4,500

$5,000

Bachelor of Science (Nursing)

97.3

97.3

$3,175

$3,200

$3,356

$3,400

$3,200

$3,445

Bachelor of Science (Nursing) (Hons)

100.0

100.0

$3,219

$3,200

$3,466

$3,435

$3,300

$3,700

82.4

41.2

$3,244

$3,200

$3,344

$3,300

$3,000

$3,600

Faculty of Arts & Social Sciences

NUS Business School

Faculty of Dentistry
Bachelor of Dental Surgery
School of Design & Environment

Faculty of Engineering

Faculty of Law
Bachelor of Laws (L.L.B) (Hons) 6
YLL School of Medicine

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music

Bachelor of Music
Faculty of Science
Bachelor of Applied Science**

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

Bachelor of Applied Science (Hons)

85.2

77.8

$3,203

$3,000

$3,355

$3,100

$3,000

$4,000

Bachelor of Science

84.3

64.2

$2,859

$2,900

$3,052

$3,000

$2,620

$3,200

Bachelor of Science (Hons)

83.9

76.2

$3,245

$3,200

$3,321

$3,300

$3,000

$3,600

Bachelor of Science (Computational Biology)**

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

N.A

Bachelor of Science (Pharmacy) (Hons) 6

Yong Siew Toh Conservatory of Music
Multidisciplinary Program

99.0

97.9

$3,431

$3,500

$3,717

$3,500

$3,400

$3,929

Bachelor of Environmental Studies7

71.9

59.4

$3,400

$3,462

$3,433

$3,500

$3,238

$3,550

Source: Graduate Employment Survey jointly conducted by NTU, NUS, SIT, SMU and SUTD

Notes:
1. The employment rates refer to the number of graduates employed as a proportion of economically active graduates (i.e.
graduates who engage actively in the labour market either by working or looking for a job) as at 1 Nov 2015 (i.e.
approximately 6 months after completing their final examinations).
2. Overall employment includes all types of full-time, part-time and temporary employment.
3. Full-time permanent employment refers to employment of at least 35 hours a week and where the employment is not
temporary. It includes those on contracts of one year or more.
4. Basic monthly salary pertains only to full-time permanently employed graduates. It comprises basic pay before deductions
of the employees CPF contributions and personal income tax. Employers CPF contributions, bonuses, stock options,
overtime payments, commissions, allowances, other monetary and lump sum payments, and payments-in-kind are
excluded.
5. Gross monthly salary pertains only to full-time permanently employed graduates. It comprises the basic salary, fixed
allowances, over-time pay and commissions, before deductions of the employees CPF contributions and personal income
tax. Employers CPF contributions, bonuses, stock options, other lump sum payments, and payments-in-kind are excluded.
6. Data on law, medical and pharmacy graduates are obtained from a follow-up survey on 2014 graduates after they have
completed their 1-year practical law course/pupillage/housemanship/first-year residency. Data on architecture graduates
are obtained from a follow-up survey on 2012 architecture graduates after they have completed their practical training.
7. The Bachelor of Environmental Studies is a multidisciplinary programme that allows graduates to specialise in either
Environmental Biology within the Faculty of Science, or Environmental Geography within the Faculty of Arts and Social
Sciences.
8. **: No data is shown due to the small number of graduates and/or low response rates.
Frequently Asked Questions:
1. What is the difference between mean and median salaries?
The mean monthly salary is an average of the salaries of the full-time permanently employed graduates. The median
monthly salary is the salary of the 'central' (i.e. 50th Percentile) graduate in a set of full-time permanently employed
graduates when they are arranged in a sequential order by salary. It is useful to refer to these 2 indicators together. The
median is a useful reference when the salary data is not evenly distributed (e.g. when the group contains graduates with
exceptionally low or high salaries, especially when the number of respondents is relatively small).
For example, although the median gross monthly salary for the Bachelor of Business Administration (Hons) course offered
by NUS shows that 50% of the graduates are earning more than $3,800, the mean gross monthly salary is $4,326. This
indicates that there are some high earners who have raised the mean salary. In contrast, the mean gross monthly salary of
Bachelor of Arts graduates is relatively similar to the median gross monthly salary. This indicates that salaries are more
evenly distributed on both sides of the median for this group of graduates.
2. What do the 25th and 75th percentile gross monthly salaries indicate?
If there are 100 students from that course who responded, then the 25th percentile (i.e. the lower quartile) gross monthly
salary indicates that 75 graduates earn more than that salary, and the 75th percentile (i.e. the upper quartile) indicates that
25 graduates earn more than the gross monthly salary indicated.
Disclaimer
The data published in this document is provided on an as is basis without any warranties of any kind. To the fullest extent
permitted by law, MOE does not warrant and hereby disclaims any warranty as to the accuracy, correctness, completeness,
reliability or fitness for any particular purpose of such data. The reader of this document assumes all responsibility and risk for
the use of such data. MOE shall not be liable for any damage or loss of any kind caused as a result (directly or indirectly) of the
use of such data, including but not limited to any damage or loss suffered as a result of reliance on the data published in this
document.