University graduates in Hong Kong earned more in 2007 than in the previous year.

According to the figures released by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the mean gross monthly income for their 2007 graduates was HK$13,604, 9.5% higher than the 2006 graduates.

It is reported that their first batches of graduates of the Quantitative Finance Program and the 4-year Dual Degree Program in Technology & Management are earning average gross incomes of $27,785 and $24,839 respectively. Professor Tam Kar-yan, Dean of Undergraduate Education, commented that the relatively high incomes of these graduates reflect the high market demand for graduates with specialist knowledge about quantitative finance, and graduates with both technological know-how and management skills.

Professor Angela Ng, Associate Dean of Business and Management who is in charge of the Quantitative Finance Program, said, "The demand for a degree in Quantitative Finance is on the rise as financial markets becomes increasingly complicated and there is a growing need for quantitative skills in areas like pricing and risk calculation."

Among the 1,647 respondents to the university’s employment survey, representing a 89.5% response rate among the total of 1,841 graduates, 1,376 graduates (83.5%) were full-time employed or self-employed.

Commerce and Business remained the largest employment sector, taking up 73.4% of the full-time and self-employed graduates, followed by 10.8% in manufacturing and industries, 7% in education, 4.5% in construction, 2.5% in government, and 1.7% in community and social services. In terms of job nature, the three most popular choices were accounting/auditing/taxation (16.7%), engineering (16.4%), and system analysis & computer programming (15.6%).

Graduates coming from the Chinese mainland, representing 3.6% of the respondents, earned a mean gross monthly income of $19,629. Among them, 43% had found jobs in Hong Kong while 53% pursued further studies. Among the employed graduates, 85% worked in the commerce and business sector and the remaining 15% were in education.