Most profitable studies in Poland: Health and IT fields lead

Graduates in cybersecurity and computer science from Warsaw University of Technology are achieving the highest economic standing in Poland immediately after receiving their diplomas, even without prior professional experience. This finding comes from the 11th edition of the national Economic Fates of Higher Education Graduates (ELA) system, which analyzed individuals completing their studies in 2024.

The ELA system measures graduates' economic position using the Relative Earnings Index (WWZ), comparing their salaries to the average wages in the districts where they reside. A WWZ score above 1 indicates that graduates earn more than the average resident in their powiat within their first year post-graduation. For instance, cybersecurity graduates from Warsaw University of Technology with no prior experience had a WWZ of 2.06, earning an average of 15,700 Polish zloty gross per month. Computer science graduates from the same university, with a median monthly salary of 13,600 zloty, earned nearly 1.5 times the average wage in their districts.

Other programs demonstrating strong earning potential include computer science at Akademia WIT in Warsaw and microelectronics at AGH University of Science and Technology in Krakow, both showing WWZ scores above 1.4. Notably, fields within health sciences, such as nursing and medical rescue, also rank among the most profitable. Graduates in these areas achieved a WWZ of 1.2, with an average of three months to find full-time employment, even without prior professional practice.

Overall, health science fields led the list of master's degree programs with the highest relative earnings in the first year after graduation, boasting an average WWZ of 1.14. They were followed by technical IT and telecommunications fields (WWZ 1.06). Other high-earning disciplines included general computer science, automation and electronics, and pharmaceutical and medical sciences, although their graduates' starting salaries were slightly below the average in their home districts.

Agnieszka Chłoń-Domińczak, a professor at SGH Warsaw School of Economics and an expert at OPI, noted the consistent strength of health science fields in the ELA rankings.

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values WWZ above 1 mean that graduates, already in the first year after graduation, earned on average better than the residents of their districts.