Overview

Graduates (between 2005 and 2014) from Alberta’s 25 publicly funded post-secondary institutions are followed over time to study the changes in their income.

Graduate's income information is collected from the first tax year following graduation and on. 

Earnings are:

• rounded to the nearest $100
• expressed in real 2015 dollars using the Alberta Consumer Price Index - All Items (CPI)

Graduates who complete a personal tax return in Canada are included in the study. 

Those people not included in the study are:

• graduates enrolled full-time in an additional post-secondary program 
• international students
• individuals who earned self-employment income

Other factors that can influence annual earnings that cannot be accounted for are:

• years of prior work experience
• number of hours worked per year
• field of employment
• local labour markets