Use graduate salaries as one part of a university-course decision, alongside curriculum, interest, entry requirements, costs and employment opportunities. A reported median helps describe a surveyed group; it does not predict your personal starting salary or your future career. Compare the exact course and survey year before drawing a conclusion.
Did you know? Singapore’s Graduate Employment Survey measures employment conditions around six months after final examinations. Its salary figures relate to full-time permanently employed graduates, while overall employment and full-time permanent employment are distinct indicators. A salary row therefore needs its definitions and employment context beside it.
Start with three checks: which cohort and degree the figure describes, which employment and salary definition is used, and whether you want to study the course’s compulsory work. Then compare your total study commitment and several possible roles. Let the data improve your questions rather than reduce the whole choice to the highest number.
Find your next answer
Reviewed on 10 October 2026. Official information is linked below; fit advice and decision worksheets are independent eduKate guidance. Confirm arrangements for your own intake, cohort and institution.
The median is the middle value when the relevant reported salaries are ordered. It is different from the mean, and it does not mean that every graduate earns that amount.
Check whether you are reading basic or gross monthly salary and which graduates are included. MOM’s graduate starting-salary definitions explain that gross figures include items such as fixed allowances and commissions, while excluding bonuses.
The useful comparison keeps the definition constant. Avoid placing a basic salary from one table beside a gross salary from another and treating the difference as evidence that one degree is better.
A salary figure describes those included in its salary population. It cannot on its own show how all graduates in the cohort are doing. Read overall employment and full-time permanent employment as separate measures.
Check the report’s notes on response rates, small samples and unavailable figures. A blank or suppressed value is not a salary of zero. Where information is limited, acknowledge the uncertainty rather than filling it with a guess.
The official MOE dataset on data.gov.sg lists the indicators by university, degree and year. Use it to locate a comparison, then read the associated report and definitions before making a decision.
A course can lead to several kinds of work, and people entering the same field can have different roles and circumstances. A starting-salary comparison cannot establish an individual outcome years later.
Ask what the degree teaches you to do repeatedly. Read the compulsory curriculum and investigate representative work tasks. Would you want to build those capabilities even when the learning is difficult?
The eduKateSG Careers by Subject resource connects disciplines with capabilities and tasks. Use it to explore a field, then check actual course requirements and employment information separately.
Estimate tuition, living and transport commitments using current university information and your own circumstances. Confirm funding and scholarship conditions. Ask what could change if you need more time to complete the course.
A salary figure cannot settle affordability on its own. Write the costs you would incur during study beside the resources actually available to you. Keep any later income scenario explicitly hypothetical.
If a course requires an additional qualification for your intended role, investigate that requirement and its costs too. Do not assume graduation from the degree automatically completes every professional entry condition.
Use five rows: compulsory learning, admission conditions, total study commitment, employment evidence and personal reasons for choosing. Complete them for two or three named programmes.
Read more than one survey year when comparable information is available. Note changes in definitions or degree groupings instead of assuming every row can be compared directly.
Use the university open-house checklist to ask about unanswered questions. If direction remains uncertain, the course-exploration guide helps you test an interest. A well-informed choice connects the data with learning you want and a commitment you can manage.
Contents · Previous · School-choice series
Official sources and next checks
- MOE: Graduate Employment Survey dataset
- MOM: graduate starting-salary definitions
- MOE: 2024 GES joint publication and indicator notes
Continue the Singapore school-choice series
Representative eduKate learning photograph; it does not depict a named institution.