8

Salaries are closely tied to educational attainment. The Bureau of Labor Statistics recently released employment projections through 2005 which indicate that 85% of jobs with the highest earnings (top quartile earnings) will require at least an associate degree.

• In 1993, a U.S. Census Bureau survey of 200 corporations revealed average salaries that those corporations planned to offer new college graduates;
  
  
• Starting salaries for engineering positions averaged $35,000;
  
  
• Starting salaries for chemistry, mathematics, statistics, and computer science positions all averaged above $30,000;
  
  
• All starting positions for college graduates averaged over $25,000.

(Source: USCB, 1996 Statistical Abstract of the United States)