SINGAPORE - Median monthly salaries for university graduates last year rose to a new high of $3,360, up from $3,300 for the class of 2015.

This is according to the results of a joint graduate employment survey of 10,904 fresh graduates in November last year by the three universities - the National University of Singapore (NUS), Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Singapore Management University (SMU).

The survey also found that about nine in 10 graduates, or 89.7 per cent, were able to find employment within six months of finishing their final examinations. The figure is similar to previous years.

However, about 80.2 per cent of the graduates in the labour force secured permanent full-time jobs, a dip from the 83.1 per cent in 2015.

The mean gross monthly salary among fresh graduates who have permanent full-time jobs was higher at $3,515, up from $3,468 in 2015.

Graduates from SMU fared the best with 93.8 per cent of them being employed within six months of their final examinations. The figure was nearly 90 per cent for NUS and NTU.

SMU graduates also earned the most, with a mean gross monthly salary of $3,722. Their peers from NUS and NTU took home $3,541 and $3,424 respectively.