If you are among the 1.2 million students expected to graduate in 2004, your starting salary should be higher than your 2003 counterparts'. The good news is 24 percent of hiring managers will increase salaries for new grads.

For those college graduates lucky enough to find a job, 60 percent can expect to make less than $30,000 a year, according to CareerBuilder.com's "Life at Work 2004" survey. Of this 60 percent, 17 percent of hiring managers will be offering college graduates salaries of less than $20,000. Further starting salary breakdowns are: 43 percent starting at $20,000 to $29,999; 26 percent starting at $30,000 to $39,999; 8 percent starting at $40,000 to $49,999; and 7 percent starting at $50,000 and above.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers' (NACE) Winter 2004 Salary Survey report provides "positive signs in the job market for new college graduates," says Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director. "It's important to recognize that the job market isn't booming, but we are seeing improvement."

The study found that more than two-thirds of disciplines studied saw a rise in the average offer. Computer science majors saw the greatest increase of 8.9 percent to $48,656. Information science grads and management information system had conservative increases. Engineering offers nudged up slightly, although the civil engineering sector saw its first decrease since 1995. Business graduates saw a modest improvement, as did liberal arts general studies disciplines, with the exception of psychology majors, which are down 8 percent.

Among the top ten jobs for grads, project engineering garnered the highest average starting salary at $46,241.

Here's what NACE's top ten jobs for grads pull in the first year on the job:
1. Project Engineering $46,241
2. Consulting $44,071
3. Design/Construction Engineering $44,015
4. Financial/Treasury Analysis $42,476
5. Accounting (Public) $40,701
6. Accounting (Private) $40,271
7. Nursing $38,987
8. Sales $35,118
9. Management Trainee/ Entry-Level Mgmt. $34,709
10. Teaching $29,266
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