Kingston students think they will earn less than half of what the average British student expects to earn by the time they reach age 40.
KU students expect on average to earn £49,370 a year in around 20 years’ time, according to a survey by The River.
But the average British student expects to earn twice the amount at £101,001 a year, according to a nationwide poll of more than 1,000 students by Societe Generale.
A number of Kingston students said they had no specific expectations and that money was not the most important factor.
“I hope I will have my own company,” said international business student Niouma Tall. “I don’t know exactly how much I can make, but your own company is more important than money.”
Deven Grace expects to earn more than £100,000 at the age of 40, but said that she did not think about money when deciding to study fashion at Kingston.
“Money is an incentive to me because of the cost of the fabrics, because I need to do the course that I do, but ultimately this is what I want my life to be about,” she said.
But for some students, their future salary was the deciding factor when applying for university.
“It was the financial side of it that attracted me the most,” said accounting and finance student Tunca Necati.
In their first graduate job, KU students expected to earn an average of £22,270. The typical salary after university ranges from £18,000 to £24,000, the Higher Education Careers Service Unit (HECSU) found in 2012.
After 20 years’ experience, employees earn an average £40,050, according to PayScale. The average UK salary is £27,000.