Students: The Affluent Class of '67

When the last protest sign has been waggled and the final exam answer scribbled, what lies ahead for this year's male college graduates? Either the draft, graduate school — or the fattest starting salaries business has ever offered.

An annual survey of 200 top U.S.

corporations by Frank S. Endicott, di rector of placement at Northwestern University, shows that members of the class of '67 who are not headed for military service will be able to com mand an average of nearly $30 more per month than did last year's graduates. As usual, the corporate demand will be greatest for accountants and engineers, and students with master's degrees will do even better than B.A.s.

Engineers with a B.A., for example, can expect to start at $712 a month, compared with $676 for 1966 graduates; math majors may earn $636, against $605 for last June's seniors.

Corporations are willing to go higher and ever higher in pursuit of promising talent not only because of expansion plans but because many jobs last year went begging. In 1966, about one-third of the engineering jobs available were unfilled, partly because so many seniors went on to graduate school. This year more firms than ever plan to recruit on more campuses, and Endicott expects that the hiring competition will be "very, very keen."