New grad jobs are full-time roles set aside for people who have just finished a degree or are about to. In the 30 days to November 7, 2026, our feed picked up about 960 US postings with new grad wording in the title, roughly 150 a week, from software and analyst roles to healthcare and federal jobs. We match on words in the title, so not every one is truly a new grad role; the next section shows what slips through. The 330 that stated pay had a median of about $72,000. The newest are below.
Latest new grad jobs in the US
Live list, refreshed Nov 12, 2026
- M
$63k to $117k - R
$54k to $79k - H
$71k to $94k - C
$16 to $25/hr - G
$60k to $85k - S
$20 to $25/hr - M
- B
$49k to $64k - S
$71k to $91k - B
What counts as a new grad job?
Employers use at least six different labels for the same idea, and if you only search "new grad" you miss most of them. We count a posting as new grad when its title contains one of the words in the table below. That is a match on the title, not a check of the job, and it lets real misfits through. On November 7 the live list included a senior clinical research role, a summer internship (its title said "undergraduate"), a maintenance technician job on a "rotational schedule" and a director post at a campus ministry. So the counts and pay on this page are a rough guide, and each card needs a quick read before you apply.
| Title says | What it usually means |
|---|---|
| New grad, new graduate, recent graduate | The plain label. Read the posting for the cutoff: some want a degree finished in the last year, some name a class year. |
| University graduate, campus, class of 2027 | Tied to a graduation date, often with a fixed start date and an application deadline. |
| Early career | Wider than new grad. Often open to people with up to two or three years of work. |
| Engineer I, Analyst I, Associate I | The first rung of a job ladder. Not labeled as a grad role, so fewer graduates find it. |
| Rotational or leadership development program | Several stints on different teams, then a permanent role. Common in finance, engineering and operations. |
| Graduate nurse, nurse residency | A paid program that helps newly licensed nurses move into hospital work. |
Source: Our job data, Nov 12, 2026
How fresh are new grad postings?
Postings in the last 30 days, by age
| Under 1 day | 1 |
| 1 to 2 days | 37 |
| 3 to 6 days | 57 |
| 7 to 13 days | 185 |
| 14 days or more | 498 |
Source: Our job data, Nov 12, 2026
Most new grad postings in our feed were more than two weeks old. That is normal for programs that hire a whole class: one posting stays up for months and fills on a rolling basis, so an older post is often still open. Rolling means they review applications as they arrive, which is why applying in October beats applying in March for the same seat. A posting that is a few days old is a different case. That is usually one team hiring one person, and those go fast.
What do new grad jobs pay?
Postings with new grad wording paid more than entry-level jobs as a whole. The median of the 330 that stated pay was about $72,000, and the middle half ran from about $54,000 to $90,000. For all US postings tagged entry level the median was about $55,000. Some of the 330 are senior or non-graduate roles that the title match let in, so don't read the $72,000 too precisely. The gap makes sense: new grad titles are mostly jobs that need a degree, while the wider entry-level pool includes store, warehouse and call center work.
For a role-by-role view, see our ranking of the highest paying entry-level jobs, which sets our posting data next to the starting salaries employers projected to NACE for the class of 2026.
Is the class of 2026 job market any good?
Cautious, then a bit better. In its fall survey, the National Association of Colleges and Employers found employers planned only 1.6% more hires for the class of 2026 than the year before, and 45% rated the job market "fair". By the spring update, the projection had risen to a 5.6% increase. Hiring is growing, slowly, and competition for the best-known programs is stiff.
Two findings from the same survey matter more for your application than the headline number. Only 42.1% of employers planned to screen by GPA, down from 73.3% in 2019. And 69.5% said they use skills-based hiring, which means interviews that ask you to show what you can do. Internships, projects and coursework you can explain in plain words now count for more than a decimal point.
Are new grad jobs remote?
Share of postings in the last 30 days
- Not stated52.2%
- Remote30.7%
- On-site12.6%
- Hybrid4.5%
| Not stated | 406 |
| Remote | 239 |
| On-site | 98 |
| Hybrid | 35 |
Source: Our job data, Nov 12, 2026
About half of the new grad postings we tracked did not say. Of the ones that did, remote was more common in our feed than on-site, but treat that with care: our feed follows what our members search for, and many of them search for remote work. NACE's employer survey paints a more office-bound picture, with half of entry-level jobs fully in person and only 6% fully remote. If you want a remote first job, apply widely and expect most offers to come with at least some office days.
New grad jobs outside software
Most new grad lists online are written by and for software engineers. The postings we track are broader than that. Epic (healthcare software), Highmark Health, the defense firms RTX and General Dynamics Electric Boat, and Albertsons were all among the 15 busiest new grad posters this month, next to TikTok and Amazon. The two busiest of all were firms we didn't recognize, so look up any employer you haven't heard of before you apply. Three routes that people often miss:
- Nurse residency programs. New grad RN jobs are one of the most searched new grad topics. Search "nurse residency" and "graduate nurse" as well as "new grad RN", and apply once your license is in hand or the program says it accepts pending licenses.
- Federal recent graduate roles. According to the Department of Labor, the federal College Graduate hiring authority covers people who finished a degree within the past two years. U.S. Customs and Border Protection was among the most active new grad posters in our feed this month. Federal roles are listed on USAJOBS.
- Rotational programs. Finance, operations and engineering employers use them to hire a whole class at once. They are a good fit if you are not sure which team you want yet.
Before you apply to a new grad posting
Read these five lines first
- The graduation window. Many programs name a range, such as degrees finished between December 2025 and August 2026.
- The start date and city. Class-based programs often start everyone on the same day in one office.
- Work authorization. "Must be authorized to work without sponsorship" rules out F-1 graduates who will need a visa later. Apply to the ones that do not say it.
- The pay range. If there is none, check our entry-level pay ranking before the first call.
- Who is hiring. A firm with a generic name posting "entry level marketing" or "management trainee" in ten cities at once is usually commission-only sales. Look for a base salary.
Once you get interviews, the first question is often some form of "tell me about yourself". Our guide to a self introduction for interviews has spoken examples you can adapt, and the HR interview questions guide covers the rest of the first round.
Questions people ask
What is a new grad job?
It is a full-time role meant for someone who has just finished a degree or will finish soon. Employers label it new grad, university graduate, early career, or with a level number such as Analyst I. It is different from an internship, which is temporary and usually for current students.
How long after graduating are you still a new grad?
Each employer sets its own window, so read the posting. Many name a class year or a date range for when your degree was finished. For federal jobs, the Department of Labor says the College Graduate hiring authority covers degrees finished within the past two years.
When should I apply for new grad jobs?
For large programs, most of a year before you start. In November 2026 we were already seeing postings for 2027 start dates. Smaller employers and single-team roles hire closer to the start date, all year round.
What is the average salary for a new grad?
In our feed, US postings with new grad wording that stated pay had a median of about $72,000 in the 30 days to November 7, 2026. NACE's winter survey projected an average of $81,535 for computer science graduates and $68,873 for business graduates in the class of 2026.
Do new grad jobs sponsor visas?
Some do, many do not. Look for postings that do not include "without sponsorship" in the requirements, and check the employer's past sponsorship before you invest hours in one application. Fresherify members can filter their feed to jobs marked as sponsoring.