Graduate destinations at the big five: employment rates, starting salaries, and further‑study figures compared using official data

In a nutshell: For the 2024 cohort of bachelor’s graduates, HKU reported a 98.7 % employment rate and a median monthly salary of HK$27,600 — the highest headline figure among the five. HKUST’s 2024 cohort had a median starting salary of HK$24,000 and a full‑time employment rate of 62.5 % (a figure that includes graduates pursuing further study or temporary work in the denominator). PolyU’s 2023 cohort posted a 98.7 % employment rate and a median starting salary of approximately HK$24,000. CityU’s 2021 cohort once led the eight UGC‑funded institutions with a 96.6 % full‑time employment rate. CUHK’s 2024 cohort recorded a career‑engagement rate of 78.7 % and a further‑studies rate of 16.6 %. Every university runs its own Graduate Employment Survey, each with a different reference cohort, a different “employment rate” definition, and a different reporting year — raw numbers cannot be stacked into a single ranking. This article unpacks the differences term by term and provides a full table of the latest official data from each institution.

# Official employment data for the most recent available cohort, side by side

The table below collates the most recently published undergraduate (bachelor’s‑degree) employment data from each university’s official survey. Because release schedules differ, the cohort year is not uniform — check the “Cohort” column first.

How to read the table: The “Full‑time employment / career engagement” column was not produced with a single measuring stick. For HKU and PolyU, the “employment rate” strips out graduates who are still job‑seeking but not actively looking from the denominator. HKUST’s 62.5 % uses the full pool of survey respondents as the denominator and breaks out part‑time, temporary and self‑employed graduates separately. CityU’s 2021 figure comes from a UGC‑wide cross‑university comparison and therefore carries stronger cross‑institutional validity, but is older. Before comparing the numbers, make sure you are comparing the same thing — each university’s methodology is unpacked below.

# Why “employment rates” cannot be compared directly across universities: decoding the differences

The Graduate Employment Surveys conducted by different universities diverge on three key definitions:

• Different denominators: HKU’s 98.7 % employment rate is calculated over “effective job‑seekers” — graduates who are still seeking work but have not yet begun an active search, plus those pursuing further study or returning to their home region, are excluded from the denominator. HKUST’s 62.5 % for the 2024 cohort, by contrast, takes all survey respondents from that cohort (2,189 graduates) as the denominator. Further‑study students (23.4 %) and some part‑time/temporary workers are therefore included in the denominator, pulling the figure naturally below a “net job‑seeker” rate.
• Whether full‑time and part‑time work are reported separately: HKUST and PolyU count “full‑time employed”, “part‑time employed”, “temporary employed” and “self‑employed” as distinct categories. The 98.7 % headline figure that PolyU publishes is a “broad‑definition employment rate” that adds full‑time, self‑employed, short‑term (under three months) and part‑time employment together in the numerator. HKU and CityU press releases, by contrast, tend to use the stricter “full‑time employment rate”.
• Different academic years covered: The table does not cover a single uniform year — HKU, CUHK and HKUST report 2024 data, PolyU reports 2023, while the most recent verifiable university‑wide media release from CityU dates from the 2021 cohort (CityU’s 2021 data came from a UGC‑coordinated cross‑university exercise; though the year is older, the cross‑institutional comparability is actually stronger).

Bottom line: The actual employment outcomes for bachelor’s graduates across all five universities are broadly excellent and close to one another. The gaps you see owe more to statistical definitions and cohort years than to any real competitiveness chasm in the job market. Rather than debating “whose number is higher”, look at the industry mix and salary distribution in each university’s profile below — those are the details that really affect an individual’s prospects.

# HKU: 19 consecutive years of full employment, the highest median salary among the five

For the 2024 cohort, HKU’s employment rate stood at 98.7 %^※. According to the CEDARS survey, 83 % of the 3,792 full‑time bachelor’s‑degree graduates responded to the questionnaire, and 98.6 % had already received their first job offer by the end of December 2024. The overall average monthly salary was HK$33,492 and the median was HK$27,600, representing year‑on‑year increases of 4.7 % and 10.4 % respectively — the highest set of numbers officially published by any of the five institutions.

By destination sector, commerce and industry remained the largest employment field at 45.9 %, followed by social and personal services (21.2 %) and government‑related organisations (16.8 %, up from 14.4 % the previous year). 95.8 % of graduates stayed in Hong Kong to work^※, while the proportion continuing to further study held steady at 22.2 %. An HKU press release described this salary level as “the highest among local institutions^※” — a phrase that recurs in the university’s annual media materials; whether it actually ranked first in any given year should be checked against same‑year figures from the other universities.

# CUHK: bilingualism and the college system, with 78.7 % career engagement and 16.6 % further study

Official statistics for CUHK’s 2024 cohort of full‑time bachelor’s‑degree graduates show a career‑engagement rate of 78.7 %^※, a further‑studies rate of 16.6 %, 1.6 % still seeking employment, and the remaining 3.0 % emigrating, returning to their home region, or not entering the job market. Of the 3,816 graduates in that cohort, 3,282 returned questionnaires — a response rate of 86.0 %.

By sector, commerce and industry accounted for 50.8 %, social and public organisations 24.9 %, and education 22.2 %. Among specific occupational categories, teaching took the highest share (19.7 %), followed by healthcare services (13.7 %), information technology (9.7 %) and banking and finance (9.3 %). Data on the job‑search process show that the average CUHK graduate submitted 18 applications, received 5 first‑round interviews, and obtained 2 job offers; 98.7 % had received their first offer by the end of September^※.

One caveat: CUHK’s official employment summary does not disclose concrete monthly salary figures (it publishes only employment status, sector, and job‑search process data). This is a different practice from HKU, HKUST and PolyU — so when comparing salaries across the five, CUHK lacks a directly citable official median starting salary.

# HKUST: starting salaries among the highest in the group, with engineering and finance as the two main exit routes

For the 2024 cohort, HKUST’s 2,189 survey respondents broke down as follows: 62.5 % in full‑time employment^※, 23.4 % pursuing further study, 2.8 % in part‑time work, and 1.7 % self‑employed. Among the full‑time employed and self‑employed graduates, the overall average monthly salary was HK$27,567 and the median HK$24,000, continuing an upward trend from the previous year (HK$26,772 average / HK$23,208 median).

By sector, commerce and industry took 57.5 %, and engineering and industry 26.0 %. In terms of specific job functions, engineering roles were the largest at 22.7 %, followed by administration/management (15.5 %), banking and finance (15.1 %), and systems analysis and programming (14.0 %). Looking across the five schools, the School of Business and Management recorded the highest full‑time employment rate at 72.4 %, while the School of Science posted a lower full‑time rate (47.1 %) because a much larger share of its graduates — 39.0 % — opted for further study. That does not signal weaker outcomes for science students; it reflects a structurally higher tendency for science graduates to enrol in research‑degree programmes. On speed of employment, 71.6 % of graduates had received their first offer by the end of June^※, rising cumulatively to 90.3 % by the end of September.

# CityU: 2021 cohort topped the eight UGC‑funded universities in full‑time employment rate and annual salary growth

The most recent university‑wide official data that can be verified for CityU come from the 2021 cohort: a full‑time employment rate of 96.6 %^※. According to a CityU press release citing UGC statistics, this figure ranked first among Hong Kong’s eight UGC‑funded institutions and was a ten‑year high for the University. Data for that same cohort also showed average annual salary growth of about 16 % year on year, likewise the largest increase among the eight. A subsequent press release for the 2022 cohort noted that CityU graduates’ unemployment rate had fallen to 1.5 %^※ (down from 1.9 % in 2021), remaining the lowest among the eight and another ten‑year best.

Important caveat: For the 2022 and 2023 cohorts, fragmentary faculty‑ or school‑level data are available, but the most recent verifiable university‑wide press‑release summary still dates from 2021. Although the two figures cited here come from an older cohort, they were generated by a UGC‑coordinated cross‑university survey and therefore offer the strongest inter‑institutional comparability in this set.

# PolyU: applied disciplines feed directly into matching employment; health and social sciences graduates earn the highest salaries

PolyU’s official survey for the 2023 cohort of degree‑programme graduates shows that 3,628 of the 4,241 graduates returned questionnaires, a response rate of 85.5 %^※. The overall employment rate was 98.7 % (defined as the number employed divided by the sum of those employed plus those still seeking employment; graduates pursuing further study, emigrating, or not looking for work were excluded from the denominator). Within that, 82.4 % were in a “broad‑definition employed” state (full‑time, self‑employed, short‑term employed under three months, and part‑time), 8.8 % were continuing to further study, and 1.1 % were still job‑seeking.

The overall average monthly salary for full‑time employed and self‑employed graduates was HK$24,017, up 5.2 % year on year (HK$22,827 in 2022). By sector, community and social services posted the highest average monthly salary at HK$32,652, another 5.5 % rise; commerce and industry followed (HK$20,304), while education recorded an average of HK$18,320, a 3.8 % decline from the previous year. By faculty, the two largest PolyU faculties — the Faculty of Health and Social Sciences (719 employed) and the Faculty of Engineering (582 employed) — formed the biggest blocks of employed graduates, illustrating the scale effect of PolyU’s applied programmes: nursing, rehabilitation sciences, engineering and related fields feed directly into matching jobs.

# Using these figures in your university‑choice decision

One common feature across all five universities’ official graduate surveys is that employment outcomes are excellent by any international benchmark, with “employment rates” clustering around 95 % (the exact figure varies with the definition). What really deserves your attention is not whether one university’s employment rate is a percentage point or two higher, but whether the sectoral mix aligns with the career you want. HKUST is strong in engineering and finance; PolyU’s applied disciplines (nursing, hospitality and tourism, engineering) offer precise industry matching; HKU enjoys high recognition in commerce and government; CUHK’s education and healthcare pathways are clear; CityU has historically stood out for the highest employment rate and largest salary gains. Before choosing a university, choose a sector. Once the sector is decided, look back at which university’s official employment data shows the highest concentration in that field. For a more detailed breakdown of employer reputation and dominant employment sectors, see the employer‑reputation analysis.

Note: Every data point on this page is backed by an official source, but differences in cohort year and statistical definitions are an objective limitation — an older data point does not mean a university’s outcomes are weaker. For formal decision‑making, always consult the latest edition of each university’s Graduate Employment Survey published on its official website. For programme‑ or faculty‑level employment data, we recommend checking the faculty‑specific statistics posted on the relevant school’s own website.