In the joint Graduate Employment Survey conducted by SMU, NUS and NTU, SMU graduates generally led the way, with their average starting salaries hitting nearly S$3,500. Among the 10,500 graduates polled, 83.4 per cent of them were employed in full-time permanent jobs within six months of completing their final examinations last year, down from 85.6 per cent in 2012. Meanwhile, the median gross monthly salary was about S$3,000 – comparable to what they received in 2012.