Ontario university graduates are workforce-ready and succeeding in the job market, according to a study conducted for Ontario’s Ministry of Training, Colleges, and Universities.
Released by the Council of Ontario Universities, the study found almost 94 per cent of students who graduated from Ontario university undergraduate programs in 2012 had landed jobs within two years. It included full-time, part-time, and business startup jobs.
About 89 per cent of respondents said their job was related to the skills they developed in university. The average amount 2012 graduates made two years after graduation was $49,001.
Over 76,000 graduates were surveyed, with 28,448 responding.
Almost 92 per cent of humanities graduates had jobs two years after graduation, but earned $10,000 less than the overall average. Seventy-eight per cent of those graduates reported their work was closely or somewhat related to their undergraduate study.
Ontario dentistry graduates reported the highest earnings at $99,839. Graduates who studied medicine, pharmacy, nursing, and engineering reported higher than average earnings, while grads who studied agricultural and biological sciences, architecture, education, journalism, and the social sciences reported lower than average earnings.
All graduates who studied optometry and veterinary medicine reported they were employed.
Sam Jeong, a first year master’s student in engineering at Carleton, said he is not worried about entering the workforce after graduation.
“Some students are better at [entering] the field than they are working from a book,” Jeong said.
