If having job stability and happy parents is important to you, an engineering degree is always a good idea — but computer science is starting to look even more promising these days.
What happened: Tuition costs for undergraduate degrees in Canada are growing faster than the incomes students can secure within five years of graduating from those programs, according to a new report from RBC Economics that looked at earnings for 2017 graduates.
- Inflation-adjusted tuition rose 12% between 2012 and 2017 for all undergraduate programs, while the median income for graduates rose just 4% from 2017 to 2022.
Why it matters: By this measure, the return on investment for a degree has shrunk in recent years. Incomes for engineers — despite still being very high — and architects were hit the hardest, while education, math, and computer science graduates saw the best returns.
- University graduates earn a median income of $60,000 compared to $30,000 for high school graduates, while returns for trades programs have outpaced college diplomas.
Bottom line: The general state of the labour market for young people these days (not great) could affect returns further. Young people are facing decades-high unemployment and the rate of promotions has slowed — but programmers and plumbers need not worry.—SB