The best and worst universities for graduate salaries revealed
While some graduates had low starting salaries, he said it was not necessarily reflective of their lifetime earning potential.
'Medicine has a very good long-term trajectory, even though the four- to six-month-out salary is not super impressive,' he said.
Norton said regional university graduates earned more initially because students typically had more work experience before starting their degree.
Psychology graduates from the University of New England were the biggest earners in their field, while that institution's science and mathematics graduates were also around the top of the salary table.
Completing a degree in dentistry was one of the biggest earners, with someone from Charles Sturt earning a median salary of $93,000 straight out of university. Charles Sturt graduates were also the top paid in social work and computing and information systems when compared with other NSW institutions.
Charles Sturt vice chancellor Professor Renée Leon said the university had industry partnerships which gave students an advantage when competing for jobs.
'At the end of the day, our students deserve this reassurance that, after years of dedication and hard work in their studies, they have every chance of getting the job and salary they've dreamt of,' she said.
Independent economist Dr Kim Houghton said while there was a preconception that professionals were paid more in big cities, that was not borne out by research data.
He noted research from the Regional Australia Institute this year which revealed a significant income premium for workers in outer regional areas.
'The further west you go, the more inland you go, the higher those salaries are,' Houghton said.
'Health specialists are in really short supply, so there are quite a lot of incentives, both Commonwealth and state, to induce people to come and practise those professions in regional places.
'The labor market is trying to function to the extent that you're paying more people to fill a shortage, but there's still chronic shortages in those sorts of skilled specialist medical professions across all the regions.'
The University of NSW had strong graduate salaries across fields including health services, science and mathematics. A spokeswoman said salaries post-graduation were a key factor when it came to choosing the university.
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'Although UNSW does not influence graduate salaries directly, we are deeply committed to student success and continuously monitor graduate outcomes … This data informs our ongoing efforts to enhance the student experience and ensure our graduates are well prepared for the workforce,' she said.
Sydney University pro vice chancellor of educational innovation Adam Bridgeman said the university helped students understand what employers wanted and how to present themselves in the job market.
'While salaries aren't the only thing students need to consider when deciding their career goals, they can be an important factor for many, and our career consultations include salary trends and coaching and advice on how to negotiate salaries,' he said.
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