Every year the six autonomous universities survey their graduates about six months after final exams, and the Ministry of Education publishes the results. The 2025 survey covered 19,887 fresh graduates with a 72.4% response rate, taken as at 1 November 2025. For the first time all six universities surveyed in the same month, which makes 2025 the cleanest year for comparing institutions.
Two numbers matter together. The median gross monthly salary is measured only among graduates in full-time permanent jobs. The full-time permanent employment rate tells you what share of graduates in the labour force actually got such a job. A high salary with a low rate describes a narrow group.
Starting salary by course cluster, 2025
IT courses start highest at S$5,500; arts, design and media lowest at S$3,840. Only half of arts, design and media graduates found full-time permanent work.
| Course cluster | Median gross salary 2025 | 2024 | Full-time permanent 2025 | 2024 | Currently employed 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Information & Digital Technologies | 5,500 | 5,500 | 78.3% | 82.7% | 84.2% |
| Engineering | 4,600 | 4,528 | 72.1% | 77.2% | 80.0% |
| Business | 4,400 | 4,350 | 77.8% | 83.8% | 87.0% |
| Humanities & Social Sciences | 4,350 | 4,250 | 70.7% | 72.1% | 82.2% |
| Built Environment | 4,268 | 4,100 | 78.2% | 81.4% | 84.8% |
| Sciences | 4,200 | 4,125 | 69.1% | 72.3% | 80.1% |
| Health Sciences | 4,050 | 4,000 | 89.2% | 92.1% | 94.7% |
| Arts, Design & Media | 3,840 | 3,800 | 50.0% | 62.0% | 77.5% |
Information & Digital Technologies has held at S$5,500 for three years running, S$900 above the next cluster. Every other cluster rose modestly in 2025. At the same time, the share of graduates in full-time permanent work fell in all eight clusters, most sharply in Arts, Design & Media, where it dropped from 62.0% to 50.0%.
How starting pay has moved, 2023 to 2025
Business starting pay rose fastest since 2023; IT pay has not moved.
| Course cluster | 2023 | 2024 | 2025 | Change 2023 to 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Information & Digital Technologies | 5,500 | 5,500 | 5,500 | 0.0% |
| Engineering | 4,400 | 4,528 | 4,600 | +4.5% |
| Business | 4,000 | 4,350 | 4,400 | +10.0% |
| Humanities & Social Sciences | 4,015 | 4,250 | 4,350 | +8.3% |
| Built Environment | 4,000 | 4,100 | 4,268 | +6.7% |
| Sciences | 4,000 | 4,125 | 4,200 | +5.0% |
| Health Sciences | 3,883 | 4,000 | 4,050 | +4.3% |
| Arts, Design & Media | 3,710 | 3,800 | 3,840 | +3.5% |
Business starting pay has risen fastest over two years, while the technology premium has stayed flat in nominal terms. SIT moved its survey from March to November in 2025, so SIT-heavy clusters are not perfectly comparable across years.
Polytechnic graduate starting salaries
Fresh polytechnic graduates start at S$2,900, and fewer than half had full-time permanent jobs.
The five polytechnics run a separate survey, taken as at 1 October 2025 and published in January 2026. Figures are split between fresh graduates and those who completed National Service before entering the workforce.
| Polytechnic graduates | Median gross salary 2025 | 2024 | Full-time permanent 2025 | Currently employed 2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fresh graduates | 2,900 | 2,800 | 48.3% | 85.4% |
| Post-National Service graduates | 3,137 | 3,000 | 66.2% | 90.7% |
| Combined | 3,000 | 2,900 | 54.2% | 87.2% |
Source: Joint Polytechnic Graduate Employment Survey 2025, released 15 January 2026 via the polytechnics' media release. Salary covers full-time permanently employed graduates.
Fewer than half of fresh polytechnic graduates were in full-time permanent work six months out, partly because many go on to university or National Service. The post-NS group, who are two years older, had both a higher salary and a higher full-time rate.
What the survey measures
Salaries cover full-time permanent jobs only and exclude bonuses.
- Gross monthly salary
- Basic salary plus overtime, commissions, fixed allowances and other regular cash payments, before employee CPF and income tax. Excludes employer CPF, bonuses, stock options and lump sums. Reported only for full-time permanently employed graduates.
- Full-time permanent
- At least 35 hours a week and not temporary. Includes contracts of one year or more.
- Currently employed
- Working on a full-time permanent, part-time, temporary or freelance basis.
- Secured employment
- Currently employed, or holding an accepted job offer with a later start date, or taking steps to start a business.
- Labour force
- Graduates who were working, or not working but actively looking and available for work. Graduates in further study are excluded from the denominator.
What the survey cannot tell you
Courses are grouped by what graduates studied, not the job they took.
- Degree, not job. Clusters group graduates by what they studied, not what they now do. An engineering graduate working in banking is counted under Engineering.
- Only the employed are in the salary. Graduates who took part-time or temporary work, or were still looking, are in the employment rate but not in the median salary.
- Six months is early. The survey is a snapshot shortly after graduation. The occupation tables show what the same careers pay at 30 to 39 and beyond.
- Course-level detail lives in each university's publication. For an individual programme, such as chemical engineering at NUS, NTU and SIT, the per-university PDFs give the response rate, employment rates, and the 25th and 75th percentile salaries.
- No university ranking. Differences between programmes reflect different cohorts entering different jobs. The survey does not isolate the effect of attending one university over another.
Common questions
What is the average starting salary for fresh graduates in Singapore?
MOE reports medians, not averages. Across the eight university course clusters, 2025 medians ran from S$3,840 to S$5,500. News coverage of the release reported an overall median of S$4,500, but the joint MOE publication itself gives only the cluster figures, so that is what this page uses.
Which degree has the highest starting salary in Singapore?
By cluster, Information & Digital Technologies at S$5,500. Individual programmes within other clusters can be higher; check the university-level PDFs for specific courses such as law, dentistry or medicine, which are reported separately.
Is S$4,000 a good starting salary?
It is at or just below the 2025 median for Sciences, Built Environment and Health Sciences, and below Business, Engineering and technology. Whether it is good depends on the programme and on whether the role is full-time permanent.
Do these figures include bonus and CPF?
No. Gross monthly salary excludes bonuses and employer CPF. A S$4,500 median is about S$54,000 a year before any bonus, not a total package.
Related guides
Sources
- MOE, Joint Web Publication, Graduate Employment Survey 2025. Official PDF. Survey population, response rates, 2023 to 2025 cluster table, definitions and the course-to-cluster appendix. Published March 2026.
- MOE, university-level GES 2025 publications. Autonomous universities page, with per-course PDFs for NUS, NTU, SMU, SUTD, SIT and SUSS.
- Joint Polytechnic Graduate Employment Survey 2025. Media release, 15 January 2026. Employment rates and median salaries for fresh and post-NS graduates, 2023 to 2025.