Earnings Expectations of EU Business School Students

The earnings expectations of approximately 1500 first year university students of business and economics are reported on. The data were collected using a questionnaire, which was distributed to students in ten higher education institutions across four European countries (Czech Republic, England, Poland and Portugal). Students were asked to estimate their expected earnings with and without a university degree at two points in time. Earnings expectations were found to vary within as well as between groups, namely by country, gender, education level, experience and probability of being obtained. Despite the variations, some common patterns are identified; namely that students are rather uncertain about their earnings prospects; expect their earnings to increase with education and experience, and to grow faster and further with a university degree