Degrees which give you the best salary prospects in South Africa

MyBroadband’s recent qualifications and salary survey reveals that graduates who studied medicine, engineering, and law can expect the highest salary increases during their careers.

The survey was completed by 5,867 South Africans, of which the majority completed a tertiary qualification.

The survey results show that medical professionals – doctors and dentists – have the highest starting salaries, followed by vets and engineering graduates.

While starting salaries are important, annual salary increases play a big part in determining the future prospects of a graduate’s career.

Some of the interesting findings from the research is that:

• While Education (BEd) graduates earn high starting salaries, their future salary prospects are not great.
• Law graduates (LLB) have modest starting salaries, but their future earning potential is good.
• Doctors (medical graduates) and Engineers have excellent starting salaries, with great future salary prospects.
• Theology (BTh) graduates have relatively low starting salaries, and poor future salary prospects.

The graphic below shows the average annual salary increase of graduates.

More on salaries

South African salaries: how much people really earn

South African IT companies that pay the highest salaries

2016 Engineering salaries in South Africa