Having a degree can boost your earnings by almost £15,000 a year.

Even before they reach 30, graduates earn on average £6,000 a year more than people the same age who do not go to university, according to the Graduate Market Trends report from the Careers Services Unit (CSU).

By the time they are in the 41 to 50 age bracket, the average graduate is on £34,958 while those without degrees get £20,400, a difference of £14,558.

Earning power of people without degrees diminishes as they get older. Thirty-one to 40-year-olds make £20,519, compared with £33,472 for their degree-holding peers.

Labour ministers used the graduate premium, claiming people with degrees earned up to £400,000 extra during their working lives, to justify the introduction of tuition fees and the abolition of student grants.

The results of an investigation into Labour's student finance reforms, which began last September, are due to be published at about the same time as the comprehensive spending review next month.

Education Secretary Estelle Morris has made it clear undergraduates will still have to contribute towards the cost of their university education, whatever the outcome of the two reviews.

The CSU report was based on figures from the Labour Force Survey for the year to last November carried out by the Office for National Statistics.

A separate CSU survey of small and medium-sized companies showed that while the number of graduate vacancies fell in recent months following the post-September 11 global downturn, prospects were now looking up.

CSU chief executive Mike Hill said: "Judging by attendance at the latest season of graduate recruitment fairs, always a reliable indicator of the graduate market, we are seeing a reversal of fortunes and students can look to the jobs market with optimism."

Management consultancy offered the highest graduate starting salaries, an average of £19,726, followed by information technology (£18,835) and engineering and technology service (£18,717).