Aug 5, 2009

Majors That Pay

Very few high school students have a clear idea of what it means to “major” in a subject in college. They can toss around subject areas the most popular of which are psychology, international studies, communications, and business. But if you ask for a connection between major and what it is they want to do after graduation, the responses get a little foggier. And that’s really alright. The vast majority of undergraduates change majors at least once and many change frequently. I changed majors three times (that I can remember), finally settling on English, not because it would get me a job, but more because I had a fair number of credit hours already stacked up in the department and I seemed to like and do well in the classes.

Boy was that a mistake! According to a survey recently released by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), I would have been much better off in life sticking with my original major—math. Evidently, the top 15 highest-earning degrees all have one thing in common: math skills. It’s no secret that tech fields are driving salaries, but the results of the NACE survey present quite a compelling picture. Engineering degrees account for 12 of the top-paying majors with petroleum engineering by far the most lucrative degree at an average starting salary of $83,121 (are we rethinking West Virginia University yet?), followed by chemical and mining engineering at $64,902 and $64,404 respectively. Here are the rest of the findings from the NACE survey:

Undergraduate Major

Starting Salary

1. Petroleum Engineering

$83,121

2. Chemical Engineering

$64,902

3. Mining Engineering

$64,404

4. Computer Engineering

$61,738

5. Computer Science

$61,407

6. Electrical Engineering

$60,125

7. Mechanical Engineering

$58,766

8. Industrial Engineering

$58,358

9. Systems Engineering

$57,438

10. Engineering Technology

$56,447

11. Actuarial Science

$56,320

12. Aeronautical Engineering

$56,311

13. Agricultural Engineering

$54,352

14. Biomedical Engineering

$54,158

15. Construction Management

$53,199

This data confirms findings released by PayScale, which conducted a less rigorous but equally math-dominated study of degrees that pay:

Best Undergrad College Degrees By Salary

Starting Median Salary

Mid-Career Median

Aerospace Engineering

$59,600

$109,000

Chemical Engineering

$65,700

$107,000

Computer Engineering

$61,700

$105,000

Electrical Engineering

$60,200

$102,000

Economics

$50,200

$101,000

Physics

$51,100

$98,800

Mechanical Engineering

$58,900

$98,300

Computer Science

$56,400

$97,400

Industrial Engineering

$57,100

$95,000

Environmental Engineering

$53,400

$94,500

Statistics

$48,600

$94,500

Biochemistry

$41,700

$94,200

Mathematics

$47,000

$93,600

Civil Engineering

$55,100

$93,000

Construction Management

$53,400

$89,600

Finance

$48,500

$89,400

Management Information Systems

$51,900

$87,200

Computing and Information Systems

$50,900

$86,700

Geology

$45,100

$84,200

Chemistry

$42,900

$82,300

PayScale puts English at #47, after history and landscape architecture, with a starting salary about 40% that of chemical engineering. And sadly, both studies agree that social work comes in dirt last in the salary race.

3 comments:

  1. Maybe you would have been better off economically by sticking with math, but not everyone is cut out to be a math or engineering major. I say, if you want to be an English major, be an English major.

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  2. So true! And here I am drawing on all my training to keep up with a blog that seems to have developed a life of its own. Only Garrison Keillor really understands what it's like to go through life as an English major:
    http://prairiehome.publicradio.org/programs/2005/01/15/scripts/poem.shtml

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  3. It's amazing how low finance is on the list, guess the financial crisis claims another victim.

    ReplyDelete