Postgraduate Income Prospects

Aside from the undeniable intellectual and aesthetic benefits, fourth level education is an expensive undertaking that often leaves students with a hefty debt on graduation. Enrolling in a postgraduate course requires careful consideration of whether you will see a profitable return on your investment in terms of your career earnings. In other words, is it financially worth it?

In Ireland, tuition fees for postgraduate programmes average at between €4,000 and €5,000 per year for EU students, and more than double that for non-EU students. Part-time fees are usually around half of those charged to full-time students. Student service charges typically amount to about €800 a year in most institutions.

When living and accommodation costs are added to the calculation of costs, and the realisation that most full-time postgraduate students do not posses the requisite spare time to hold down a part-time job, then the size of the financial commitment required becomes all too clear.

Of course, most postgraduate students will be able to avail of some sort of funding (see previous article Funding Postgraduate Study), but even when these financial supports are brought into consideration, the figures remain quite daunting.

So what’s the good news? Well, all the existing evidence suggests that fourth level graduates tend to be paid significantly higher than those who enter the workforce with just a primary degree. It appears that in the majority of cases, enrolling in a postgraduate qualification makes excellent financial sense.

The 2005 report What Do Graduates Do? revealed the extent to which the initial starting salaries of fourth level graduates are greater than those with a third level qualification. 16 per cent of Honours Bachelor degree graduates earned over €33,000, compared to 43 per cent with Postgraduate Diplomas, 32 per cent with a Taught Masters, 38 per cent with a Research Masters and a resounding 86 per cent of those who graduated with a PhD.

Not only do postgraduates tend to be healthily remunerated in their first role but these figures are also on an upward trend. For example, 72 per cent of Postgraduate Diploma holders reported earning more than €25,000 upon graduation, up considerably on the 59 per cent who reported the same starting income in 2004’s corresponding study.

A 2006 report entitled Comparative Starting Salaries and Career Progression of Graduates in Science, Engineering and Technology provides more detailed analysis of graduates’ starting salaries. This study looked at the comparative average incomes per sector of employment (e.g. Food Science and Technology, Art & Design, Law, etc.).

Completing a postgraduate course (research-based in particular) is more often associated with technical/scientific areas or specialised industries such as the law or medicine, rather than the humanities. There is a widely held belief that a fourth level qualification in the arts is not a major contributor to career prospects. The statistics however do not bear this bias out.

Just three per cent of third level Primary Degree in humanities graduates earned over €33,000 in their first salary, compared with 17 per cent of Higher/Graduate Diploma holders, 19 per cent of Taught Masters graduates, 20 per cent of Research Masters graduates and 53 per cent of those who had acquired a PhD in the humanities.

The employers in the case of humanities postgraduates would be located in all areas of the economy, both public and private; underpinning the reality that employers value the soft skills and organisational talents of a postgraduate at least as much as expertise in a particular field of knowledge.  A postgraduate qualification in humanities does not narrow your career prospects, but rather expands your options greatly.

The 2006 study reflects the growing value the economy is placing on postgraduate qualifications in the areas of engineering and science. Well-paid jobs are available to third level engineering graduates, but the first-salary statistics reveal that pursuing a postgraduate engineering course is always worth the effort. Theses course are valuable because they enable students to apply their technical skills in a commercial environment, thus preparing them for high-end engineering roles.

In the areas of electronic and electrical engineering for example the following findings were revealed in Comparative Starting Salaries and Career Progression of Graduates in Science, Engineering and Technology: nine per cent of primary degree holders earned over €33,000 in their first salary, compared with graduates of the Taught Masters (18 per cent), Research Masters (29 per cent) and PhD (81 per cent) degrees.

Investment is steadily flowing from public and private coffers into scientific research and development in Ireland. Innovation is the key to an economy that is knowledge-driven and competitive on a global scale, and students can safely assume that highly paid and challenging new careers in science and technology will continue to appear at the currently impressive rate.

So if we take chemistry for example, only seven per cent of primary degree graduates earned over €33,000 in their first year, compared with 33 per cent and 69 per cent of Taught Masters and PhD graduates respectively. 

Click here to view the 2006 study in full, and see how pursuing a fourth level qualification in your chosen discipline is the key to healthier career prospects.

Given the measurable and significant financial benefits of enrolling in fourth level education to those who are entering the workforce for the first time, it is safe to assume that completing a postgraduate course is of equal benefit to those who are currently working and willing to study part time to strengthen their career prospects. Fourth level education is something for everyone to consider.