Master's Graduate Employment Outcomes 2026
We present the fifth edition of the employment outcomes study of master's degree graduates from the Catalan university system (SUC), prepared by AQU Catalunya with the aim of analysing the contribution of these studies to graduates' professional careers and providing evidence to improve degree programmes and university policies. The report offers a comprehensive overview of the employment outcomes of master's graduates, addressing aspects such as employment status, job quality, the suitability of jobs to the studies completed, and the impact of the master's degree on professional development.
The study is based on the responses of nearly 19,000 graduates of an official master's degree from the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 academic years, a large sample that makes it possible to obtain robust results both for the system as a whole and for the main disciplinary fields. In a context in which master's studies are fully consolidated in Catalonia, with an offer of nearly 700 degree programmes, this edition also highlights the growing importance of online learning, as one in every three graduates of the Catalan university system completed their studies at a distance-learning university.
Analysis and results
Report
Employment outcomes of master's graduates from Catalan universities (July 2026)
Webinar presenting the study
Indicators
EUC Dades website. Survey results compared by institutions delivering the degree programme.
Main results
- University studies continue to be a very good investment
Three years after graduation, 93.7% of master's graduates are employed, and not only do they have jobs: they mainly work in qualified occupations related to their studies, with sustained improvement compared to previous editions.
- More stable and better-paid jobs, but with less purchasing power
The quality of employment has improved, mainly due to increased contractual stability: nearly 7 out of 10 master's graduates have permanent contracts, a widespread increase probably linked to the 2022 labour reform.
Nominal salaries have risen at all three levels, but the cumulative inflation of recent years has eroded purchasing power.
- Does the university prepare students well for the labour market?
The three studies agree: the answer is yes, and increasingly so.
At master's level, education is generally well aligned with the labour market: most competences show only small gaps between the level attained and their usefulness at work. English, despite achieving a satisfactory level and being one of the competences that has improved the most since 2023, still has the greatest room for improvement. A relevant finding at a time of increasingly diverse learning formats is that online learning prepares students just as well as face-to-face teaching, as there is virtually no difference in the level of education received. The greatest differences are in teamwork and oral communication, where face-to-face or hybrid learning scores slightly higher than online learning; by contrast, written communication scores 0.5 points higher in online education.
- Is it worth it? Satisfaction increases with educational level
Job satisfaction is high and the vast majority would choose the same studies again. The intention to repeat also increases with educational level: from 71% among bachelor's graduates to 81.6% among doctoral graduates.
- What's new in this edition
Face-to-face learning is no longer the majority option
Less than half of graduates (46%) completed their master's degree through face-to-face learning. Hybrid (23%) and online (32.5%) learning continue to gain ground, particularly among older students and those with more extensive work experience. Online learning prepares students just as well as face-to-face learning: there are virtually no differences in the level of education received, with a slight advantage for face-to-face or hybrid learning in teamwork and oral communication, and for online learning in written communication (+0.5 points).
Technical characteristics
Fieldwork: November-December 2025 in the online phase and January-March 2026 in the telephone phase.
Participating universities: UB, UAB, UPC, UPF, UdG, UdL, URV, URL, UOC, UVic-UCC, UIC, UAO CEU, 23 affiliated institutions and two higher arts institutions.
Reference population and sample: The reference population comprises 43,824 graduates and the sample consists of 18,841. The population includes people who graduated from an official university master's degree in the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 academic years.
Data protection policy:
See the information on the origin and use of personal data from the AQU Catalunya employment outcomes survey.