Although there remains a salary advantage for college students obtaining a master's degree, the differential between average starting salaries of recent graduates earning bachelor’s degrees and master’s degrees is diminishing, according to results of NACE’s First Destinations for the College Class of 2021 report. The survey found that there is currently a 22.5% salary differential between the degree levels. This is the lowest differential in recent years and is a drop from 26.1% for the Class of 2020 and from 31.8% for the Class of 2017. (See Figure 1.)
