Ontario University Students Have Highest Employment, Income

High employment, high income: there’s nothing but good news for Ontario university graduates.

A new study conducted for the Ministry of Training, Colleges and Universities (MTCU) shows that Ontario University students have higher employment and income rates than graduates with any other level of education.

The study followed over 25,000 2010 undergrads and found that 86.5 per cent were employed within six months of graduation, with 92 per cent of participants still employed two years after graduation. The average salary for Ontario university graduates also increased. The average income for graduates was $42,668 six months after graduation and increased to to $49,277 after two years of employment.

82.3 per cent of the graduates who participated in the study said that the full-time work they were doing was closely related to their university education. This indicates that skill-matching is essential to finding meaningful, long-term employment, which organizations like the National Association of Career Colleges have long suggested.

“Ontario universities are preparing students for careers in an ever-changing workplace and are key players in economic success as we recover from the global recession,” says Bonnie M. Patterson, president and CEO of the Council of Ontario Universities (COU). “Our graduates have the critical thinking skills and adaptability employers are looking for in today’s fast-paced, technology-driven economy. They know how to learn and possess the resilience needed for the long term.”

Students in Dentistry, Forestry, Optometry and Veterinary Medicine fared best, with 100 per cent of graduates finding full-time employment within six months and still employed full-time after two years. Over 90 per cent of Architecture, Computer Science, Journalism, Kinesiology, Mediciine, Nursing and Pharmacy graduates also remained employed in their fields two years after graduation.

“The most certain path to a well-paying job related to your field of study is still a university education,” says Max Blouw, chair of the COU and president of Waterloo’s Wilfrid Laurier University. “No other level of education surpasses a university degree both in terms of employment rates and income.”

The COU is a membership organization of 21 publicly assisted universities in Ontario that works closely with the provincial and federal governments to shape public policies that help universities deliver high-quality programs for students and advance the research and innovation that improves the social, cultural and economic well-being of Ontarians.