The most read Vietnamese newspaper
Edition: International | Vietnamese
© Copyright 1997 VnExpress.net. All rights reserved.
Get VnExpress first in Google Search
See more of the news you trust. Make VnExpress a preferred source to prioritise our updates in your Google search results
The estimate comes from the Winter 2026 Salary Survey by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), which collected responses from 150 organizations between Oct. 8 and Nov. 30, 2025.
About half of the individual engineering disciplines reported lower salary projections. The steepest decline occurred in engineering technology, where projected salaries fell from $98,750 to $86,680.
 |
|
Graduation ceremony of engineering students from California State Polytechnic University, Pomona, U.S. Photo courtesy of the university |
Mechanical engineering graduates saw a smaller drop of 2%, with projected salaries decreasing from $90,227 to $88,403.
Other fields also recorded lower projections, including computer engineering (7.1%), software engineering (5.7%), and systems engineering (8.3%). These follow sharp projected increases last year of 21.5%, 20.8%, and 24.8%.
The highest projected starting salary for the Class of 2026 belongs to computer science graduates, whose average is expected to reach $94,212, representing a 10.9% increase from the previous year.
A similar trend appears at the bachelor’s level. Computer science graduates are projected to remain the highest paid with an average starting salary of $81,535, followed closely by engineering graduates at $81,198.
In terms of demand, NACE said the most sought-after master’s degrees mirror those at the bachelor’s level, with computer science, engineering, and business fields topping employer hiring lists.
