[photopress:mba_Dalian.jpg,full,alignright]’Starting salaries’ is the 10th most searched keyword phrase on Yahoo China today, as in 2,321,390 searches in one day. Recently a survey that polled graduates of 89 colleges in China to rank their starting salaries after graduation. This survey result initiated waves of heated discussion (especially among the students) on the internet.
The salary is in RMB per month. Here are the top 10:
1 RMB5,050 Dalian University of Foreign Languages which is shown in our illustration.
2 RMB4,900 University of Electronic Science and Technology of China.
3 RMB3,916 Central University of Finance and Economics.
4 RMB3,875 The Central Academy of Drama.
5 RMB3,863 RMB Fudan University
6 RMB3,717 Beijing Foreign Studies University.
7 RMB3,700 University of Science and Technology of China.
8 RMB3,682 Xi’an Jiaotong University.
9 RMB3,633 Shanghai International Studies University.
10 RMB3,596 Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Beijing University and Tsinghua University are ranked quite low on this list, at No.19 and No. 27 respectively. But note also that this survey excludes bonuses and commission.
However, based on the survey, it seems that students who major in foreign languages, finance and technology tend to get better starting salaries.
A similar survey in the United States puts media starting salaries at RMB47,000 per month which is, on average, ten times as much. But note that the cost of the education would also be of that order.
If you take the Financial Times Global Rankings Wharton comes out at the top but CEIBS in China comes in at a most creditable 11th place. However this ranking lists weighted earning not starting salaries.