Times Union Editorial: http://jacksonville.com/news/education/2017-04-09/fscj-graduates-outpace-unf-first-year-incomes-report-says

Graduates who obtained a bachelor’s degree from Florida State College at Jacksonville in the last five years earned considerably more their first year in the job market than graduates with a bachelor’s degree from the University of North Florida.

This, says a recent report released by the American Institute for Research, is because degrees at state colleges tend to be concentrated in specialized, high-paying fields, such as nursing, biomedical sciences and computer and information sciences.

According to Angela Browning, director of outcomes, assessment and strategic planning at FSCJ, bachelor’s degrees offered by the college are those that specifically address Jacksonville’s workforce needs and do not compete with the University of North Florida.

“We are filling a need that would otherwise not be met,” Browning said. “I think these numbers show the quality and the value of the education that we offer our students, and the economic opportunities that await our students after they earn their degree.”

Bachelor’s degrees from FSCJ earned a median income of $42,604, while University of North Florida bachelor’s degrees earned a median of $34,608 in the graduate’s first year out of school.

The report, Measuring the Economic Success of Florida’s Graduates, tracked the more than 19,000 degrees issued by the Florida State College system and the bachelor’s degrees issued by 11 state universities during the last five years.

Bachelor’s degrees are the most common degree awarded in the United States, and has historically been viewed as a good investment. Though specialized, the bachelor’s degrees issued by the college system was only 10 percent of the overall total of bachelor’s degrees awarded by Florida universities.

The number may soon fall.

Legislation in both the Florida Senate and House of Representatives seeks to cap the number of four-year degrees state colleges can offer, even though they don’t compete with the much wider select offered by state universities.

University of North Florida saw a median first-year earning that ranks a bit higher, according to the report, than both the statewide median and the Florida State University median. The statewide median sits at $34,456, not much lower than UNF’s figures.

These small differences, said UNF associate provost Jay Coleman, can often be attributed to the cost of living in the region surrounding a university. For example, both Florida Atlantic and Florida International universities — which have the highest median earnings — are located in two of Florida’s most costly cities: Boca Raton and Miami.

In psychology, biology and mathematics, University of North Florida graduates saw medians very similar to statewide numbers — and in psychology and biology actually outpaced Florida’s two flagship state universities.

The university ranks among the best in the state in the percentage of students employed after graduation and what those students are paid, Coleman said.

While there’s always room for improvement, he added, career attainment is one of the primary points of discussion when the university considers new programs. They ask: will this prepare students for the job market and what are the program’s rate of pay?

So far, the method is working.

Behind the bachelor’s degree, the associate of arts degree is the second most commonly awarded degree in Florida. The median earning of graduates with just A.A. degrees, however, tend to be lower than those of graduates from any other degree, the report states.

However, the median first-year earnings of graduates with an associate of science degree were around $9,000 higher than graduates with bachelor’s degrees from the state university system institutions, and more than $16,000 higher than graduates with AA degrees who were in the labor market.

The report also shows:

• Graduates with A.A. degrees from the Florida State College at Jacksonville earned the second highest salary in the state at $29,828 — above the state median of $27,628 and far above the lowest earning college, South Florida State College, at $24,732.
• On the other hand, the South Florida State College earned the highest bar for A.S. degrees at $52,700, while Florida State College at Jacksonville fell just below the state median with its A.S. degrees at $43,256.
• Employment rates for FSCJ A.S. degree graduates sits at 77 percent for report’s five-year period.
• Student federal loan debt at FSCJ fell below the state average — $5,283 — but just barely: $5,019.