Employment Outcomes For Private Education Institution Graduates Remain Stable In 2024/2025

The PEI GES findings focused on the employment outcomes¹ of economically active fresh graduates who graduated between May 2024 and April 2025 from full-time Bachelor’s level External Degree Programmes (EDPs)². There were about 6,150 full-time graduates across 26 PEIs, of whom 61.6% responded to the survey² which was conducted from October 2025 to January 2026.

Key Findings of PEI GES 2024/2025

Among the respondents, 2,600 of them are economically active PEI fresh graduates in the labour force (i.e. working or looking for a job)³. 78.9% of these graduates in 2024/2025 secured employment within six months of graduation, comparable to the 78.6% in 2023/2024. Across all course clusters, the proportion of fresh graduates who secured employment remained comparable between 2023/2024 and 2024/2025. The median gross monthly salary for PEI fresh graduates in full-time permanent employment remained stable at $3,500.

 In comparison, 88.9% and 93.1% of Autonomous Universities (AUs) and Post-National Service polytechnic graduates⁴ secured employment respectively in 2025. The  median gross monthly salary of AU fresh graduates was $4,500, while the median gross monthly salary for post-National Service polytechnic graduates was $3,137 in 2025.⁵

The employment outcomes of PEI graduates varied considerably across the different institutions and course clusters. Prospective students looking to pursue full-time Bachelor’s level EDPs are encouraged to review the employment outcomes for specific institutions and course clusters before making their decisions.

To support skills and career development, PEI graduates can reference SSG’s Jobs-Skills Portal for insights on in-demand and emerging skills. They can also tap on career matching services offered by Workforce Singapore (WSG), e2i and career matching partners, as well as WSG’s Volunteer Career Advisors for industry insights and career management advice. Those facing job search difficulties can consider applying for the GRaduate Industry Traineeships programme to acquire industry-relevant skills and boost their employability. Additionally, they can take up personalised skills consultations with SSG’s Skills Ambassadors and build up their skills portfolio through Careers & Skills Passport.

Ms Angela Tan, Director-General (Private Education) of SSG, said, “The employment outcomes for PEI graduates have remained steady, reflecting their adaptability and readiness for the workforce in today’s fast-changing job market. To help graduates make informed skills and career decisions, we will continue to work with our partners to offer skills and career guidance, and provide resources to help them confidently navigate their skills journeys and build meaningful careers.”

Detailed results of the survey can be found here: https://www.ssg.gov.sg/resources/pei/private-education-institution-graduate-employment-survey/ 

¹Definitions of the employment indicators are in Annex A.

²Programmes offered by a PEI through its partnership with a foreign education institution.

³To reflect the employment outcomes of new entrants into the Singapore labour force, the PEI GES findings exclude graduates who are not in the labour force, have more than one year of prior full-time permanent work experience as well as part-time students. It also excludes international students working or seeking employment overseas.

⁴Post-National Service polytechnic graduates are used as the comparison group as they are closer in age to PEI graduates, with median ages of 23 and 24 respectively, whereas polytechnic fresh graduates have a median age of 20.

⁵Referenced 2025 Joint Autonomous Universities Graduate Employment Survey (JAUGES) results published on 5 March 2026 and 2025 Polytechnic Graduate Employment Survey results published on 15 January 2026.