On 9 July 2024, the ninth edition of the Polish Graduate Tracking System (ELA) was launched to offer support to graduates. The updated data helps determine which university majors are among the most lucrative within five years following graduation. Interestingly, the latest ELA data reveals that higher education institutions (HEIs) that are located in small cities are highly effective in preparing their graduates for future careers. Individuals who graduate from HEIs in small cities not only slightly outperform their peers from universities in metropolitan areas in terms of their median salaries during the first year following graduation, but they also boast considerably higher Relative Earnings Rates.
ELA – one of the best system in the EU
On 9 July 2024, the National Information Processing Institute, acting on behalf of the Ministry of Education and Science, launched the ninth edition of the Polish Graduate Tracking System. The new data provides compelling insights on the labour market in Poland, including on the most financially rewarding majors with minimal potential for unemployment. ELA also provides data on PhD graduates and students who combine studying and work. This data is updated every autumn.
‘Once again, ELA data confirms that earning a degree in tertiary education is a smart investment. Graduates earn more, both in metropolitan areas and small cities,’ says Dariusz Wieczorek, Minister of Science and Higher Education. ‘The results of the matriculation exams were published today. ELA is designed to assist high school graduates who are uncertain about their career paths and to guide them toward more informed decisions about their future,’ adds the minister.
‘The most recent ELA data demonstrates once more that graduates’ salaries increase in consecutive years, regardless of when they finished their studies. Bottom line: studying pays off, says Marek Michajłowicz, Deputy Head of the National Information Processing Institute. ‘ELA is a cutting-edge system which is one of the most advanced of its kind in Europe. Launched in 2016 on behalf of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education, ELA has been systematically refined since. ELA’s solutions are being leveraged to develop tools that aid in tracking the careers of graduates across Europe. With more than 800,000 new individuals included this year, the system provides a comprehensive overview of the educational and professional careers of nearly 7 million people who studied, graduated, or pursued doctoral programmes between 2014 and 2022, adds Marek Michajłowicz.
Small cities hold firm
The ELA system offers a reliable analysis of the condition of higher education institutions in small cities. Experts at OPI have compared the circumstances of the 2022 master’s graduates who pursued second-cycle and long-cycle programmes at higher education institutions in Poland’s largest cities of over 500,000 inhabitants and in other cities with or without powiat rights.
‘Our study reveals that HEIs located in small cities are highly effective in preparing their graduates for future careers. Not only do those graduates slightly surpass their peers from metropolitan institutions in terms of median salaries earned during the first year following graduation (PLN 5,488.24 for graduates from small cities vs PLN 5,374.81 for those from metropolitan areas), but they also achieve significantly better results when considering the Relative Earnings Rate (0.88 vs 0.76, respectively), which compares the incomes of graduates to the average income in their respective powiats of residence. This implies that graduates from HEIs in small cities are best equipped to respond to the demands of their local labour markets,’ claims Dr Mikołaj Jasiński, expert at OPI. ‘Graduates from HEIs located in medium-sized cities with powiat rights and populations below 500,000 exhibited the lowest earnings, with a median income of PLN 4,835.33 and a Relative Earnings Rate of 0.74,’ adds Dr Jasiński.
Regardless of the size of the city where their institution is based, the majority of graduates tend to relocate to small cities and towns after they complete their studies. This leads to the conclusion that the bulk of graduates are absorbed by provincial labour markets. Less than 40% of graduates from the largest cities and other cities with powiat rights continued to live in cities of comparable sizes.
Mazowieckie to offer the highest income during the first year after graduation
‘According to the data of the 9th edition of ELA, graduates residing in the Mazowieckie province reported the highest average earnings of PLN 5,791.53, while graduates from the Podlaskie province earned the least with an average of PLN 4,697.55. When evaluating the earning efficiency of graduates, it is crucial to factor in the general income levels in their areas of residence. This efficiency can be measured more accurately with the Relative Earnings Rate (RER),’ says Dr Agnieszka Chłoń-Domińczak of SGH, expert at OPI.
RER is the ratio between the average income of graduates and that in their places of residence during the monitoring period. RER considers the economic condition of the local labour markets during respective periods and allows to compare earning efficiency across various places of residence and monitoring periods. The RER values indicate what part of the local average income was earned by graduates. ‘The highest RER values were reported for the graduates in Warmińsko-Mazurskie province who earned 0.82 of the average local income, while the lowest RER values were observed in the Małopolskie and Podlaskie provinces (0.73 in each of the provinces),’ adds Dr Chłoń-Domińczak.
Similarly, we are able to compare the nominal and relative unemployment measures. The lowest risk of unemployment during the first year following graduation (measured as the average percentage of months during that period in which monitored graduates remained registered as unemployed) was recorded for the graduates in the Wielkopolskie province (2.6%), whereas the graduates in the Świętokrzyskie province were the most likely to become unemployed (7.4%). The Relative Unemployment Rate (RUR) compares the risk of becoming unemployed and the rate of unemployment in places where graduates reside. Similarly to RER, RUR allows to compare the resilience of monitored graduates to unemployment. The most resilient were the graduates in the Mazowieckie province (0.60), while the least resilient were the graduates in the Świętokrzyskie province (1.04).
Domains of study and incomes during the first year following graduation
Experts at OPI have also analysed the findings concerning the fields with the highest salaries for graduates of second-cycle and long-cycle master’s programmes, broken down by domain of study. They emphasise that it is crucial to recognise the distinct nature of various labour market strategies depending on the type of studies completed. For example, the labour market experiences of IT experts differ from those of philology graduates.
Earnings during the first year following graduation are presented with two indicators: the median monthly salary expressed in PLN and the Relative Earnings Rate (RER). It is important to note that the first year following graduation typically marks the beginning of a professional career. For that reason, low salaries during the first year—expressed in PLN and as RER values below 1—should not be unexpected.
‘The average salaries of graduates in specific domains during the first year following graduation vary. Graduates in medical and health sciences boasted the highest average salaries. During the first year of their careers, they earned an average of 88% of the local average salaries in their powiats of residence. It is important to note that the salaries of graduates specialising in medical and health sciences were higher than those in the fields that are considered the most lucrative – engineering, exact and natural sciences, and social sciences,’ adds Dr Marek Bożykowski, expert at OPI.
The salary differences between programmes are more pronounced than the differences in average salaries across specific domains. ‘Social science graduates with degrees in executive master of business administration and data analysis in social sciences were offered highest salaries. High incomes were also attained by engineering and exact and natural science graduates with various IT degrees, such as computer science and cybersecurity. The lowest salaries were recorded for the graduates who majored in arts,’ adds Dr Bożykowski.
Degrees are still worth it
The latest ELA findings suggest that while graduates initially earn below the average income in their powiats of residence, they exceed it by the third year following graduation and their salaries continue to increase in subsequent years. It is important to note that the upward trend reflects not only an increase in graduates’ earnings over time but also that their salary growth outpaces that of others in their powiats of residence. Higher education provides financial benefits — graduates fare better than other local job market participants.
The Polish Graduate Tracking System (ELA)
The Polish Graduate Tracking System (ELA) is developed and maintained by the National Information Processing Institute (OPI) on behalf of the Polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education (MNiSW). It provides reliable information on the circumstances of graduates of Polish higher education institutions on the labour market. It relies on data that have been gathered in public registers. ELA imports information from POL-on, another system developed by OPI PIB, and uses data collected by the Polish Social Insurance Institution (ZUS). The latest data pertains to the 2022 graduates and covers the period of at least 12 months of professional activity following graduation (up to December 2023). During this time graduates often gain their first work experiences. All data processed by the system is anonymised. Appropriate security mechanisms have also been implemented. The system is innovative and user-friendly. It generates reports, rankings and infographics to satisfy users’ needs. A free-of-charge mobile app enabling the use of the system is also available.