Last year, more than 90 percent of the graduating class went on to work or pursue graduate studies. Many of these recent graduates now enjoy working at some of the top technology companies in the world including Google, DreamWorks Animation, Microsoft, and Cisco Systems. But, it is Rensselaer graduates’ earning power and potential that has most recently been recognized by Forbes magazine. 

The business publication ranked Rensselaer graduates as some of the top earners in the country when compared with other university alumni. Rensselaer graduates were number 14 on the list of 20 top universities. According to Forbes, the median salary for a Rensselaer graduate with zero to five years experience was $61,100 and $110,000 for those with 10 to 20 years experience. In this category, the top 10 percent of graduates, what Forbes refers to as “Top Earners,” earn more than $182,000 per year.

“The median salary for a recent Rensselaer graduate is approximately two to three percent higher than the national average,” said CDC Director Tom Tarantelli. “I believe the experience factor plays a huge role in this.  Many students at Rensselaer get career experience beyond the university through coop and internship programs. That career experience really seems linked with their salaries. The reputation of the school always plays a role and as our reputation grows and is coupled with real world career experiences, graduates can find opportunities to make great strides in terms of career and salaries.”

And the real-time statistics being compiled by the Rensselaer Career Development Center (CDC) support this favorable outlook for Rensselaer alumni. The average starting salary for Class of 2007 students with bachelor’s degrees was $56,110, up 3.35 percent from the previous year. For students with master’s degrees, the average starting salary was up nearly 9 percent to $71,849 according to the CDC’s 2006-2007 Annual Report.

The Forbes rankings were developed in partnership with the Payscale.com and analyzed the salaries of more than 13 million unique compensation profiles. Forbes compared the starting salaries of university graduates as well as their salaries 10 to 20 years post graduation to better understand the arch of their career. The full article and rankings, which were completed for both public and private institutions, can be found on the Forbes Web site.