Graduate outcomes
What Malaysian graduates actually do
Every year the Ministry of Higher Education tracks what happened to the country's graduates. This is that data for 2023, covering 304,466 Malaysian graduates, laid out by field of study and by qualification level, with nothing added and nothing sold.
Read the first column, not the second. Being in work, continuing to study and upgrading skills are all good outcomes, and fields whose graduates routinely go on to a higher qualification look far worse than they are if you only count who is employed. 86.4% of all Malaysian graduates were doing one of the three.
By field of study
Sorted by the share of graduates working, studying or upskilling. The national row at the bottom is what each field should be read against. A number on its own tells you very little.
| Field of study | Working, studying or upskilling | Working | Studying further | Not yet working |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering, Manufacturing & Construction78,818 graduates surveyed | 91% | 70.6% | 18% | 6.5% |
| Information & Communication Technologies22,374 graduates surveyed | 89.8% | 64.7% | 23.1% | 8.3% |
| Generic Programmes & Qualifications68 graduates surveyed | 89.7% | 80.9% | 4.4% | 5.9% |
| Natural Sciences, Mathematics & Statistics13,565 graduates surveyed | 87.6% | 59.3% | 23.8% | 9.1% |
| Business, Administration & Law85,300 graduates surveyed | 86.6% | 68.7% | 16.5% | 11% |
| Arts & Humanities26,971 graduates surveyed | 85.1% | 63.5% | 20% | 13% |
| Services20,034 graduates surveyed | 84.5% | 68.6% | 15% | 13% |
| Social Sciences, Journalism & Information13,744 graduates surveyed | 84.4% | 69.2% | 12.6% | 12.6% |
| Agriculture, Forestry, Fisheries & Veterinary4,826 graduates surveyed | 84.3% | 57% | 22.1% | 12.2% |
| Education21,284 graduates surveyed | 79.7% | 70.9% | 7.2% | 13.7% |
| Health & Welfare17,482 graduates surveyed | 74.9% | 67.2% | 6.8% | 11.9% |
| All fields (national) | 86.4% | 67.9% | 16.6% | 10.2% |
By qualification level
The question behind this table is usually "is the diploma enough, or does he need the degree?". The answer is less obvious than the headline rates suggest.
| Level | Working, studying or upskilling | Working | Studying further |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certificate27,822 graduates surveyed | 93% | 69.3% | 23% |
| Diploma115,296 graduates surveyed | 85.7% | 53.4% | 31.5% |
| Advanced Diploma208 graduates surveyed | 93.8% | 87.5% | 6.3% |
| Bachelor's degree135,522 graduates surveyed | 84.6% | 76.3% | 5.1% |
| Postgraduate Diploma2,983 graduates surveyed | 79.4% | 77.4% | 1.1% |
| Master18,940 graduates surveyed | 93.8% | 88.7% | 3.6% |
| Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)2,646 graduates surveyed | 91.1% | 87.7% | 0.5% |
Diploma is the clearest example of why the employment rate alone misleads. Only 53.4% of diploma graduates were working, but 31.5% went straight on to further study, which is a decision, not a failure. Counted properly, 85.7% were working, studying or upskilling.
There is no salary column here
Chapter 7 of the Higher Education Statistics publishes employment status by field, but not starting salary by field. We have not sourced a per-field salary table we can stand behind, so we show none.