Women with degrees earn at least three times as much as a non-graduates within a decade of leaving university, according to the first large-scale report into the impact of higher education on wages and salaries in the UK.

A study conducted by the Institute for Fiscal Studies, Cambridge and Harvard universities found that the graduate premium for women was greater than for men, even though male graduates on average earned more.

Researchers found that median earnings of men 10 years after graduation were about twice those of a non-graduate while female graduates earned more than three times as much as their non-graduate counterparts.

The study used tax records and student loan data for 260,000 people who were at university between 1998 and 2011 and whose earnings were looked at for the tax year 2011-12.

It found that 10 years after graduation, 10% of male graduates were earning more than £55,000 a year, 5% were earning more than £73,000, and 1% were earning more than £148,000. Ten years after graduation, 10% of female graduates were earning more than £43,000 a year, 5% were earning more than £54,000 and 1% were earning more than £89,000.

The median figure for a non-graduate woman in her early 30s is £6,300 and for a man £10,700. For graduates, the figures are £19,500 and £25,200, respectively.

Researchers said their data also suggested the gender pay gap among graduates was smaller than government statistics implied. The research found the male–female annual earnings gap 10 years after graduation was about 23%, whereas the official Labour Force Survey put it at about 33%.

The study showed that the recession had a negative impact on workers in their 20s and early 30s, but that graduates suffered proportionately less.

Jack Britton, a research economist at the IFS and an author of the working paper, said: “This study shows the value of a degree, in terms of providing protection from low income and shielding graduates from some of the negative impact of the recent recession on their wages. We find this to be particularly true for women.”

Anna Vignoles, of Cambridge University and the IFS and another author of the report, said: “This study illustrates the power of using big data to better understand the graduate labour market and shows that, previously, we have underestimated the earnings of top graduates.”