Does it really matter where you study?
This report compares the earnings of people who have completed a bachelors degree at a university with the earnings those who completed a similar qualification at a polytechnic.
Author: Roger Smyth, Jamie Hyatt, Bhaskaran Nair and Warren Smart [Ministry of Education]Date Published: March 2009
DOWNLOADS
Available from top right hand inset box. Due to the size of the files it may take some time to download. Any enquiries about the report can be emailed to: information.officer@minedu.govt.nz.
The key finding of the report is that there is no evidence to substantiate claims of labour market discrimination against polytechnic degrees. In particular:
- There is no discrimination at the point of entry into the labour market – the median earnings of those entering the workforce with a bachelors degree from a polytechnic are roughly the same as those with a university bachelors degree.
- Over time, university graduates gain a modest margin over polytechnic graduates.
- In many areas where the polytechnics have specialised in degree teaching – business, computing and engineering – the differences are very slight and in some fields, polytechnic graduates earn more than university graduates on average.
- University graduates tend to predominate at the upper ends of the earnings distribution – bachelors graduates with the highest earnings are more likely to have taken their degree at a university.
- university bachelors students may be better prepared academically for study – either through their school performance or through innate ability;
- polytechnics may have prepared their graduates better for the workforce, while university graduates reveal their skills more slowly;
- in some fields, polytechnic bachelors degrees have been concentrated in occupations that traditionally attract lower salaries.