£15,000 graduate pay premium

Figures show the hard work pays off

People who have degrees earn nearly £15,000 a year more on average than those who do not, latest figures suggest.

There are also signs that the graduate recruitment market is picking up again.

Average starting salaries

Management consultancy - £19,726

Information technology - £18,835

Engineering and technology services - £18,717.

While still in their 20s, graduates are on average more than £6,000 a year ahead of people who did not go to university, according to the latest Graduate Market Trends report from the Careers Services Unit.

The "extra earning power" argument is one of the main ways ministers have sought to try to persuade more young people from poorer backgrounds to go into higher education.

The flip side is the deterrent effect of the debt young people have to run up to sustain themselves through university when they could be out working.

The government's review of student finance has been eagerly awaited by all those with a stake in the issue.

Tuition fees

There are still no indications of when it will be published, although it will not be before the review of government spending next month.

Asked about it on ITV on Sunday, the Education Secretary, Estelle Morris, said she expected that undergraduates would still have to contribute towards the cost of their university tuition fees.

The new report on graduate earnings uses figures from the Labour Force Survey for the year to November 2001, carried out by the Office for National Statistics.

By the time they are in their 40s - those who graduated in the 1980s - they are averaging £34,958 while those without degrees are on £20,400 - a difference of £14,558.

A separate survey of small and medium sized companies showed that job vacancies for graduates were picking up again, after the downturn following the 11 September terrorist attacks.

The Careers Services Unit's chief executive, Mike Hill, said: "Students can once again look to the employment market with real optimism."

The report was welcomed by the universities' umbrella organisation, Universities UK.