Engineering graduates are among those most likely to gain full-time employment three years after graduation.

New data published recently shows university graduates with vocational degrees are the most likely to be in full-time employment.

According to the 2020 Graduate Outcomes Survey – Longitudinal, the following graduates had the highest full-time employment rates three years after graduation:

• Dentistry — 98.3 per cent
• Medicine — 97.3 per cent
• Engineering — 95.4 per cent
• Teaching — 93.8 per cent

Minister for Education Dan Tehan said the Government’s Job-ready Graduates legislation would make it cheaper to study in areas of expected future job growth.

“We are creating additional university places for Australian students and making it cheaper to study teaching, nursing, clinical psychology, English and languages, agriculture, maths, science, health, architecture, environmental science, IT, or engineering,” Mr Tehan said.

“We are encouraging students to tailor their studies to learn the skills that will be in demand in areas of future jobs growth. That means breaking down the traditional degree ‘silos’ by choosing units of study across disciplines and introducing a price signal to students by making degrees cheaper in areas of expected job growth.

“We want our students to receive an education that sets them up for future success.”

The full report is available here.

It follows the Coalition Government last week promising to create additional university places for Australian students and provide more support for regional students and universities.

The Coalition Joint Party Room endorsed the Job-ready Graduates legislation with amendments following the consultation process. The key amendments will:

• Create the disciplines of Professional Pathway Psychology and Professional Pathway Social Work to reduce the student contribution for studying units as part of a pathway to professional qualifications. This change will set units at CGS cluster 2 (now $13,250) and student band 2 (now $7,950). To offset fee reductions for psychology and social work, the maximum fee for student bands 1 and 2 will increase by $250.
• Distribute the Tertiary Access Payment of $5,000 for Outer Regional, Rural and Remote students as a scholarship allocated to universities based on historical enrolment of regional students.
• Establish a floor for the maximum basic grant amount for higher education courses to guarantee university funding in legislation.

“We will make it cheaper for students to study in areas of expected future job demand. So students will pay less for their degree if they study teaching, nursing, clinical psychology, English and languages, agriculture, maths, science, health, architecture, environmental science, IT, or engineering,” Minister Tehan said.

The Job-ready Graduates legislation was introduced into the Parliament last Wednesday.