This marked a 0.5 percentage point increase from the rate in 2024, according to the Private Education Institution Graduate Employment Survey 2024/2025 released on Wednesday.
Some 78.9% of the roughly 2,600 surveyed graduates who were working or seeking work found employment within six months of graduating, slightly up from 78.6% a year earlier.
Besides those in full-time jobs, 24% were working part-time or temporary roles, down 0.2 percentage points, while 5.1% were freelancing, a 0.9-point increase.
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Office workers walk to work during morning peak hour commute in the central business district in Singapore, March 24, 2016. Photo by Reuters |
The survey, conducted between October 2025 and January 2026, collected responses from roughly 3,800 of the 6,150 fresh graduates who completed full-time bachelor’s degrees at 26 private institutions, including James Cook University, PSB Academy and Singapore Institute of Management.
“The employment outcomes for private education institution graduates have remained steady, reflecting their adaptability and readiness for the workforce in today’s fast-changing job market,” said Angela Tan, director-general for private education at SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), which released the findings, as quoted by The Straits Times.
Among course clusters, health sciences graduates had both the highest employment and full-time employment rates, at 94.1% and 76.5% respectively, though SSG noted that the sample size for this group was fewer than 30.
The business cluster followed, with an employment rate of 82.8% and 48.1% in full-time roles. Sciences came third with 82% and 57.5%.
In comparison, 88.9% of fresh graduates from Singapore’s autonomous universities, such as Nanyang Technological University and the National University of Singapore, found employment within six months of graduation in 2025, with 74.4% in full-time jobs. The rate for post-national polytechnic graduates stood at 93.1%, with 66.2% in full-time roles.
For private university graduates in full-time employment, the median gross monthly salary was unchanged at $3,500 in 2025, with those from James Cook University earning the highest median pay at S$3,700.
Graduates from Management Development Institute of Singapore and Singapore Institute of Management followed, at S$3,580 and S$3,565, respectively.
By field of study, health sciences graduates also commanded the highest median salary at S$3,935, followed by engineering and information and digital technologies, both at S$3,900.
Meanwhile, earlier surveys showed median monthly salaries of S$4,500 for graduates from autonomous universities in 2025 and S$3,000 for polytechnic graduates, according to Channel News Asia.
