University's mainland graduates paid most

Mainland graduates from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have found jobs paying far more than local graduates, the university's latest survey shows.

The mainland graduates are earning a mean monthly salary of HK$19,629, outstripping local graduates by an average of HK$6,025.

Eighty-five per cent of mainland graduates who found jobs opted for commerce and business, with the rest going into the education field.

Thirty-two mainland respondents chose to further their studies in international and local graduate programmes.

The survey, conducted in the last quarter of 2007, received responses from 1,647 of the 1,841 bachelor's degree graduates, a response rate of 89.5 per cent. Mainland students accounted for 3.6 per cent.

This was the university's first large-scale attempt at pinpointing the employment situation of its mainland student body.