Oxford vs Cambridge, Oxbridge vs Ivy League: Whose graduates earn the most
Cambridge may have won this year’s men’s boat race.
But Oxford's alumni can boast a superior average salary, according to new research looking at graduates with two to six years of experience in work.
Salary benchmarking site Emolument.com found the average Oxford graduate earns £70,000 (including a £5,000 bonus), ahead of £68,000 from Cambridge (again with a £5,000 bonus).
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Unfortunately for both Oxbridge universities, though, the study compared them with the US’s Ivy League, leaving them far behind the likes of Harvard (£105,000, including an £8,000 bonus) and Brown (£96,000, including a £10,000 bonus).
In Oxford and Cambridge’s favour, of course, is the fact that fees amount to less. Harvard’s tuition fees, for instance, come to £34,000, Emolument.com found.
The research also found an advantage to degrees in science, with Ivy Leaguers earning five per cent more on average and Oxbridgers one per cent.
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And the advantage of being male was even more extreme. Ivy League men earned on average £135,000 – 33 per cent more than women on £91,000. And Oxbridge males were on £86,000 – 34 per cent more than females’ £57,000.
Alice Leguay, co-founder and chief operating officer of Emolument.com, said: ''Earnings are clearly higher in the US thanks in part to a strong bonus culture.
“The huge costs of high-end degrees however leaves students well out of pocket by the time they graduate.”
For the study, the website analysed 5,013 salaries from Oxbridge and Ivy League alumni.