Does It Pay to Graduate from an 'Elite' University in Australia?

In Australia, the so-called Group of Eight (Go8) elite research universities have lower student-to-staff ratios, better-qualified staff, superior research outcomes, and generally better placement in university rankings than non-Go8 universities. In this paper, we use data from the Graduate Destination Survey and data on Australian Tertiary Admission Ranks (ATARs) to investigate the existence of Go8 premia in the Australian graduate labour market, and to determine the extent to which they are due merely to the recruitment of better students. We find statistically significant evidence of small Go8 premia which are largely, but not entirely, due to the selection of above average ATAR students.