Teachers Need Shortest Time, Doctors Longest to Break Even
This conclusion is based on a Kompas analysis on tuitions in 12 degree programs from 30 state and private universities in Indonesia, and comparing these to the average employment incomes among graduates.
PGRI University Semarang student Redo Septian (left) discusses with his friends at the 2021 Teaching Campus Program Batch 2, Wednesday (4/8/2021).
Kompas has looked at the data on tuition for 12 degree programs and the average starting salary of university graduates. It appears that the shortest period for repaying education costs is among graduates of teacher training institutes, and the longest time is among medical school graduates.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS — With varying university tuitions for degree programs, teacher training and education science graduates require the shortest time to repay their education costs after university, while medicine graduates take the longest time to break even.
This conclusion is based on a Kompas analysis on tuitions in 12 degree programs from 30 state and private universities in Indonesia, and comparing these to the average employment incomes among graduates. For state university graduates, the data analysis used the average tuition for students who had entered university through the regular route of admissions tests, or public admissions tests. For private university graduates, the students were admitted via the academic achievements path.
Also read:
> Big Dreams to Pursue Higher Education
> Indonesian Parents Find It Harder to Pay for Children's College Tuition
Income data was procured from four sources: Government Regulation No. 15/2019 on civil servant salaries, a 2020 survey by HRD firm Kelly Services Indonesia, job search website Glassdoor, and the online 2020 Salary Survey by the @HRD Bacot team.
The analysis found that the top three degree programs whose graduates had the shortest repayment period were, in order: teacher training and education science, informatics engineering, and statistics and data science.
The Faculty of Sports, Sebelas Maret University (UNS), Solo opened a physical fitness test stand for academics, at the UNS campus, Solo, Central Java, Friday (29/11/2019).
Teacher training graduates take up to 12 months to break even in repaying past tuitions from their employment income; informatics engineering graduates 1.02 years (12 months and one week); statistics and data science graduates 1.07 years (13 months).
The tuition for teacher training programs is the lowest among 11 other degree programs. Based on Kompas’ calculation, students training to become teachers spend an average tuition of Rp 57.61 million until graduation.
In terms of monthly incomes, a teacher’s average salary is around Rp 4.9 million per month. However, because the cost of education is the lowest, the break-even period is the shortest compared to graduates of other degree programs.
Semarang State University spokesperson Muhamad Burhanudin said that a moderate tuition was set based on the results of a survey that showed that most teacher training students came from the lower middle class.
While teachers had been experiencing an improvement in welfare, jobs in other sectors were also becoming increasingly available for pedagogy graduates looking to augment their income. "With this situation, it is obvious that the education expenses [they] incurred will reach the break even point more quickly," he said.
However, in comparing their benchmark salaries, the tuition for eight semesters in the two science degree programs are usually repaid within one year of post-university employment.
On the other hand, the tuition for the informatics engineering degree program and that statistics and data science is two times higher than the tuition for the teacher training program. However, in comparing their benchmark salaries, the tuition for eight semesters in the two science degree programs are usually repaid within one year of post-university employment.
This is because the starting salary for the two sectors is relatively high. They earn Rp. 6.2 million on average, or 22 percent higher than other graduates from the 12 degree programs analyzed by Kompas.
The monthly salary of informatics engineering graduates in 2026 is projected to be Rp 8 million, while statistics and data science professionals, such as data scientists and analysts, can expect to earn Rp 8.5 million.
The salary rise in informatics engineering and data science is in pace with the rapid growth in the digital economy. The two degree programs offer the prospect of a large income that enable new graduates to break, despite the high cost of their education.
Derwin Suhartono, the head of the computer science program at Binus University, said job opportunities for its graduates had expanded in recent years. In the past, computer science graduates tended to seek jobs at information technology companies. Today, almost all industries needed computer experts, especially technology startups.
The atmosphere of the 6th Plenary Central Board Meeting of the Association of Indonesian Private Universities or Aptisi in Surabaya, East Java, Wednesday (29/1/2020).
In addition, informatics engineering graduates had potentially high remuneration prospects. "Now, the return on investment in education can come relatively quickly," Derwin said on Saturday (23/7/2022).
Sarini Abdullah, a statistics lecturer at the University of Indonesia, shared Derwin’s perspective. She said that in the past, many statistics seniors would settle for a side job as a private tutors or a teacher at an informal educational institution. The current trend ahead of graduation, she said, was that many students had been recruited as full-time data scientists and data analysts at various companies.
Based on data from the tracer study conducted by universities to evaluate the outcomes of each degree program, the starting salary for statistics graduates is between Rp 4.5 million and Rp 9 million per month, with an average salary of Rp 6.3 million.
On the other hand, the total cost of a statistics degree was relatively low, because students needed only a computer or laptop and did not have to pay for laboratory costs like in some other programs. "Usually, within one year [of work], it [salary] is already in the double digits,” Sarini said.
There is a need for steady investment in training and education.
Meylani (18), a freshman in data science at the Sumatra Institute of Technology (Itera), said she chose the program because the employment prospects for graduates were quite broad and promising. “I was searching on Google what a data science graduate could become. It turned out to be a lot," she said.
According to the 2021 Southeast Asia e-Conomy report by Google, Singapore investment firm Temasek, and consultant Bain & Company, the number of talents in the region have yet to meet the demand of the digital industry.
This limited talent is the only obstacle compared to other factors, such as internet access, logistics, and customer trust. The report says that talents, especially technical talents, were still a challenge. There is a need for steady investment in training and education.
Costly and long
Medical degrees have the longest repayment period. The average tuition for medical degrees at state and private universities is Rp 388.8 million for eight semesters.
With a doctor's starting salary averaging Rp 9.1 million, they need to work 3.5 years before they break even. This is twice as long as architecture, which has the second-longest repayment period of 1 year and 9 months.
The repayment period for graduates of private medical schools can be up to 6.3 years, because the average tuition of the 10 private universities analyzed is Rp 688.6 million until graduation, or around Rp 88 million per semester.
However, if accepted at a state university through the regular admissions route (SNMPTN and SBMTN), the return on investment for medicine graduates is around 0.81 years (about 10 months). The repayment period for graduates of private medical schools can be up to 6.3 years, because the average tuition of the 10 private universities analyzed is Rp 688.6 million until graduation, or around Rp 88 million per semester.
Nonmonetary aspects
Choosing a degree program cannot be based on monetary returns alone. Prof. Nizam, the director of higher education, research and technology at the Education, Culture, Research and Technology Ministry, said that higher education aimed to not only produce added value, but also increase knowledge, insightfulness, creativity, soft skills, and leadership, all requisites for students in developing their future.
/https%3A%2F%2Fasset.kgnewsroom.com%2Fphoto%2Fpre%2F2021%2F11%2F23%2Fcc3260d5-6b1f-4509-a3a7-88e3a76d0f16_jpeg.jpg){kind=logo}
Kompas Saba Campus activity entitled "Media Literacy" at the Widyaloka Auditorium, Brawijaya University, Malang, East Java, Saturday (23/5/2015).
An economics and business lecturer at Gadjah Mada University, Gumilang Aryo Sahadewo shared the same opinion. He said many nonmonetary rewards were gained from higher education aside from earning senor high school (SMA) or vocational high school (SMK) diplomas.
He said by virtue of their higher education, graduates could have jobs that likely offered more stability with a better work environment, which could in turn improve mental health.
Gumilang said choosing the right degree program by considering the market demand was important for students to achieve better future welfare. It was a major responsibility for parents and teachers at SMA and SMK to guide students in choosing degree programs according to industry trends and the student’s potential. (PUT/SPW/XNA)
(This article was translated by Musthofid)
