Spotlight Online for Career Services and Employment and Recruiting Professionals, August 4, 2010 

As a group, students majoring in the engineering disciplines have the highest salary expectations, followed by those studying the computer science fields, according to results of NACE’s 2010 Student Survey. 

Overall, students working toward degrees in engineering anticipate an average salary of $56,202; their computer science peers expect to average $50,657. 

Those expectations are in line with reality: NACE’s Summer 2010 Salary Survey shows that the average offer to engineering grads is $58,970, while those studying the computer science fields currently average $59,750. 

As a group, students majoring in liberal arts/humanities report the lowest expectations at $33,697; that’s also in line with current data from Salary Survey, which shows liberal arts majors averaging $34,747. 

NACE’s 2010 Student Survey was conducted February 9, 2010, through April 30, 2010. More than 31,470 students representing more than 400 colleges and universities nationwide took part; more than 13,000 of those were graduating seniors. A final report on the study’s findings will be available later this year.