Top 3 Degrees with the HIGHEST Starting Salaries (2026)

Top 3 degrees with the highest starting salaries in South Africa right now. And for more career advice, make sure you follow me. The gap between these and the average graduate salary is insane. The average graduate salary in South Africa is anywhere between 12k to 20k, and that's roughly around 150 to 250k a year. But these three sit way above that. At number one, we have Actuarial Science, and it's probably one of the highest paying undergraduate degrees in South Africa right now. If you've passed your Actuarial Science professional exams, you're looking to earn anywhere between 400k to 700k as your starting salary. And even if you haven't written your exams, you will still be way above the average graduate salary in South Africa. And the reason why it's so high is because actuaries are actually on the critical skills list of South Africa. That basically just means that there's just not enough of them, and banks, insurance companies, pension funds, everyone's looking to hire from that small pool of graduates. But I'll be honest, it's serious maths, and if you're not good with maths, this path will humble you. At number two, we have Engineering. It's probably one of the most in-demand degrees in South Africa right now, and the average starting salary is anywhere between 280 to 380k a year. And the reason is very simple: South Africa does not produce enough engineers to meet the demand for those who are in mining, energy, and petroleum. You're looking to earn even more higher. At number three, we have Computer Science, and these graduates earn anywhere between 240 to 370k a year. It is slightly lower than Actuarial Science, but the salary growth rate is insane. Junior developers earn 400k fairly quickly, and your senior developers about a million. And if you have specialised like machine learning roles, you'll earn even more higher. Let me know what you think about these degrees in the comment section below. Do you think any other degree should be on this list? Let me know in the comment section, and follow me for more career advice.