CHICAGO — The Illinois Institute of Technology leads Illinois schools in highest "early career" salaries for graduates, a new report says.
Graduates of IIT, located in the Bronzeville neighborhood, had an early career annual salary of $58,000, according to the PayScale College Salary Report.
The survey defined early career employees as those having five years of experience or less in their career or field who hold no higher than a bachelor's degree.
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign grads hold the No. 2 spot in the state, at $55,000.
Generally STEM graduates — science, technology, engineering or math majors — have higher paying careers, PayScale said. Schools that graduate engineering majors in high numbers usually top their annual pay list, according to the company, a Seattle-based compensation information firm.
Other universities in the Chicago area on the early career salary list include Northwestern (No. 3, at $54,200); U of I-Chicago (No. 5; $49,000); University of Chicago (No. 6; $48,800); DeVry University-Chicago (No. 7; $47,900); and DePaul University (No. 10; $45,900.)
City-based schools included: Loyola (17; $43,800); St. Xavier (21; $42,900); Northeastern ($42,700); Roosevelt (25; $41,800); Chicago State ($38,900) and Columbia ($37,900).
Ten years into one's career, the ranking changes a bit, with the University of Chicago topping the list with a mid-career salary of $102,000 and Illinois Institute of Technology at $95,000, good for No. 5 on the Illinois list.
Nationally, Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California is tops for early career salary at $75,600 and $133,800 at mid-career.
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