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.

They Really Teach This Stuff?

When was the last time you scanned a college course catalogue? If you’re more likely to visualize a thick book with small print than a webpage, I guarantee it’s been a few years. And you may be surprised to know that academic coursework is no longer limited to surveys of American Lit or Psych 101. In fact, your tuition dollars could very well be going to support the study of maple syrup, magic, or the science of superheroes.

My first clue that the nature of academics had changed came when my son started complaining loudly that the Stanford class in wine tasting was scheduled so as to conflict with Algebraic Topology. Wine tasting vs. Algebraic Topology? The latter I understand is a cornerstone of his math major, but which general education requirement does wine tasting fulfill? Foreign language, perhaps—note that the class is tastefully placed within Stanford’s French Department. And how much would we be paying for him to learn the difference between Gallo and Chateau Lafite Rothschild?

The wine tasting experience sent me shuffling off to the internet to see what other classes I may have missed by graduating in the last century. The following are a few I culled from various lists including one recently published by the Chronicle of Higher Education (subscription required):

• FRENLANG60D—French Viticulture (Stanford University): Wine tasting. Students must be 21 and bring their own wine glasses.
• Chemical Engineering 395—Brewing Science and Society (New Mexico State University): Presumably the low brow equivalent of the above. Actually this is rumored to be a difficult class requiring both a research project and several field trips.
• Tree Climbing (Cornell University): Those suffering from fear of heights are strongly discouraged from enrolling. The class covers numerous venues and different forms of equipment. Note that the instructor lived in a tree for 3 years.
• EXP0021-The Future is Lost (Tufts): A 13-week seminar on the TV show “Lost.”
• Joy of Garbage (UC Berkeley and Santa Clara University): One of the professors keeps garbage in his office for a real hands-on experience. Both classes also feature some swell field trips to landfills and sanitation plants.
• The Art of Walking (Centre College): Students study the work of famous perambulators such as Kant and Nietzsche while given freelance walking assignments. The syllabus clearly states, “…getting lost is discouraged.”
• Daytime Serials: Family and Social Roles (University of Wisconsin): Offered in conjunction with the Women’s Studies program (!), this class examines the role of soap operas in the family and work lives of those who watch them.
• The Science of Harry Potter (Frostburg State University): This “honors” science course is geared towards non-science majors and there is no lab work.
• SYMBSYS230—Psychology of Facebook (Stanford again): The goal of this class is to make students experts on this topic (sounds like a gut to me). Enrolled students must join the professor’s Facebook group.
• Learning from YouTube (Pitzer College): This class examines the impact on culture that the video streaming site has had. Students are required to upload their own special project.
• ENG287-The Horror Film in Context (Bowdoin College): Not recommended for the squeamish, the class looks at why society is fascinated with not only horror films but death itself. Yikes.
• Simpsons and Philosophy (UC Berkeley): This course reviews how the TV cartoon depicts social issues such as racism and politics.
• HC299-Far Side Entomology (Oregon State): Using the comic strip as a teaching tool, this class explores interactions between humans and insects. Beyond the question of flyswatters and roach motels, I wonder if reading Archy and Mehitabel would count for extra credit?

So, does this list make you want to go back to college or go check on junior’s fall schedule? Or both?

Thank You CICV!

From everything I could see, this year’s Virginia Private College Week was a raging success. Scores of prospective high school students and their families traveled from one corner of the Commonwealth to the other and were treated to special presentations as well as a few t-shirts or souvenirs from participating colleges and universities. Following my own advice, I visited four private colleges located in central Virginia and came back with sore feet and lots of good information to share. In addition to basic facts and figures, this is what I learned:

• The ghost of Robert E. Lee’s horse named Traveler still roams the campus of Washington and Lee University in Lexington, VA. Students have been known to leave good luck offerings of carrots and apples in front of the large green barn doors that are forever left open to facilitate Traveler’s travels. Thanks to the incredible generosity of one alum, Washington and Lee annually offers 44 Johnson Scholarships or totally free rides to almost 10% of all incoming freshmen.
  
  
• Roanoke College is not actually located in Roanoke, but rather sits on a picturesque hill in the center of Salem, VA. Voted “The Best Campus of 2009” by Campus Activities Magazine, Roanoke was recognized for the large number of social and academic programs available to students (other finalists included Ohio State University, Central Michigan State University, Boston University, and Marshall University). It didn't hurt that Roanoke recently brought both Kellie Pickler and John Mayer to campus for a couple of concerts.
  
  
• One of the Colleges That Change Lives, Lynchburg College is situated on a stunning 214-acre campus and provides students with additional learning opportunities at the 470-acre Claytor Nature Study Center featuring classrooms, laboratories, lakes, and wetlands along a mile-long stretch of the Otter River. Lynchburg's 10-foot bronze “Fighting Hornet” statue is recognized as the world’s largest hornet and protects newly renovated Shellenberg field. To encourage visits, Lynchburg gives one free t-shirt to any prospective applicant who completes a tour of campus.
  
  
• Spanning both sides of US Rt. 460 on the other side of Lynchburg is Liberty University, one of the nation’s newest and most rapidly growing major private universities with a strong religious foundation. In addition to 18 NCAA Division 1 teams, Liberty boasts of some incredible athletic facilities including 60 miles of biking and hiking trails and Snowflex—a snow-free ski slope that looms high above campus and looks to be totally amazing. Liberty’s tuition falls within the bottom 10% of all private colleges and universities in the nation, and 99% of incoming students receive scholarships.

Of course, there’s much more to tell about each of these schools, but I wanted to provide a taste of the variety and depth of Virginia’s private college system. Supported by such programs as the Virginia Tuition Assistance Grant (TAG) and the availability of both merit and need-based financial aid, these schools offer quality education at an affordable cost. Check them out!

That Was Now

For rising juniors looking forward to enduring one form or other of US History during the coming school year, I share your pain. It’s a rite of passage. Even if your parents and I had less US history to learn—it having effectively ended with the Truman administration, we still had to spend at least one full year of high school knee deep in explorers, civil war heroes, WWI battles, and Hitler’s march across Europe.

But I have a plan to ease you into whatever it is you dread come September, be it US, AP US, History of the Americas, or Virginia History. As part of my low stress/no stress summer prep program, I am recommending tuning in to BackStory with the American History Guys. No kidding. There’s no heavy lifting here. In fact you can download a relatively painless dose of history (including back programs) onto your iPod and go about your business of jogging, mowing the lawn, sunbathing, or otherwise zoning out around the house.

Now here’s the secret: BackStory is an entirely enjoyable way to learn US History. These three guys are funny and entertaining. And unlike historical movies like Mel Gibson’s Patriot or Oliver Stone’s JFK, this stuff is true. Starting with topics ripped from today’s headlines, BackStory spends an hour exploring historical context from the point of view of the three “History Guys,” each of whom represents a century in American history. Other historians (including Harvard president Drew Gilpin Faust), people in the news, and outside callers provide the show with “color.” You can find the History Guys on Facebook, you can subscribe to their newsletter, or you can listen locally on WAMU, the NPR affiliate.

If an hour is too much of a commitment, you can find 90 second snippets of American history offered by Central Washington University free of charge at the iTunes store. I particularly enjoyed the “Entertainment and Teen Culture” segment since it squarely placed blame for the roots of teen rebellion on my grandmother. Or if you want to dig a little deeper, check out some real university professors in iTunes U. Recommended lecturers include Yale University’s David Blight and Stanford’s Jack Rakove, both of whom offer fairly specific US History courses online. In addition, The Do It Yourself Scholar recommends three survey classes from Temple College (TX), the University of Alaska Southeast, and UC Berkeley.

Why all the sudden interest in US history? “Because that was now…and this is then”—The History Guys.

Black Listed

In a carefully worded press release designed to generate sales of its latest college manual, the Princeton Review debuted the results yesterday of surveys conducted with 122,000 students attending schools designated the 371 best colleges in America. Within seconds, the Princeton Review website crashed or at least became inaccessible as thousands of interested parties raced to learn which schools earned distinctions on the 62 published ranking lists. I know this because I was simultaneously trying to verify information for yesterday’s post on salaries and could not for the life of me understand why the system kept denying access to last year's list of top party schools.

This morning, various news sources picked up the Princeton Review release and I can already see stories rolling out across the country as schools are asked to react to placement on such glamorous lists as “Happiest Students” or the less flattering “Dorms Like Dungeons.” Naturally I had to sneak a peak which necessitated opening yet another account in my cat’s name and thereby exposing my mailbox to waves of print material from various test prep sponsors and a few colleges paying to use the mailing list generated by those seeking to learn what 122,000 unscientifically polled undergraduates have to say about the institutions they attend. All I conclude is that it might be better not to be among the 371 best colleges in America than to appear on the “Least Beautiful Campus” or “Is This a Library?” lists.

While the Princeton Review press release gently tries to steer interest in their latest list of green rated schools and earnestly directs attention to the winners in such categories as “Best Financial Aid,” most press will inevitably flow toward schools listed as “Lots of Hard Liquor” and “Reefer Madness.” I’m not a particular fan because no one looks beyond the sensational headlines for methodology, and unattractive labels tend to stick. Pity the school described as “where fun goes to die” or the college where professors are described as inaccessible. While high school students might be intrigued by various party designations, parents view some of these lists in the way of cautionary tales—schools to be avoided at all costs. Unfortunately, the urban legends that spin-off from these stories tend to have a long half-life and reputations aren’t easily rehabilitated. Mention the University of West Virginia in this area and you’re guaranteed to get a response more in line with its party reputation than its standing among the few colleges offering petroleum engineering.

I suppose the moral of the story is that for some colleges, publicity—any publicity is welcome. For others, these kinds of rankings produce an ongoing headache of trying to explain the unscientific nature of the study or to laugh away a survey presumably conducted in the spirit of good fun. There will be colleges issuing press releases of their own in the next few days, while others will seek not to publicize less flattering standings. There will be those that try to capitalize on the survey while others will avoid the discussion entirely. You can tell a great deal about a school by how they spin the Princeton Review rankings.

Paycheck U

Which schools produce graduates earning the highest paychecks? That’s a question PayScale.com attempts to answer each year through a survey conducted of site users willing to provide detailed information on how much money they’re making, at what profession, after having graduated from which college or university. This year, 1.2 million college grads participated in the annual income accounting which neatly breaks schools into subcategories including top state universities, engineering schools, party schools, and top overall paycheck producers. Although the survey methodology is based on self-reported data and may not be highly scientific, the results are worth considering if return on investment is one factor in how you think about colleges. Note that the data considers only those college grads whose education went no further then bachelor’s degrees, so high rollers like doctors, dentists, and lawyers don’t skew survey results.

Not surprisingly, engineering schools produce the best starting salaries.

Engineering Schools	Starting Median Salary	Mid-Career Median Salary
MIT	$71,100	$126,000
Harvey Mudd College	$71,000	$125,000
Stanford	$67,500	$124,000
Bucknell	$56,100	$116,000
Rensselaer (RPI)	$62,500	$116,000
Cal Tech	$69,000	$115,000
Polytechnic Institute of NYU	$62,700	$114,000
Lehigh	$57,400	$114,000
Carnegie Mellon	$65,300	$113,000
UC Berkeley	$57,000	$112,000

The only Virginia school appearing on the engineering list is Virginia Tech which comes in 25^th place with a starting median salary of $52,000 and a mid-career median of $97,400.

Virginia, however, does somewhat better in the top state universities category:

State Colleges and Universities	Starting Median Salary	Mid-Career Median Salary
UC Berkeley	$57,100	$112,000
Colorado School of Mines	$60,000	$109,000
Georgia Tech	$58,900	$105,000
NJ Institute of Technology	$55,100	$104,000
UC San Diego	$50,700	$103,000
Cal Poly	$57,000	$102,000
Univ. of IL Urbana-Champaign	$53,900	$ 99,700
UC Santa Barbara	$49,700	$ 98,400
VA Tech	$52,900	$ 97,400
UVA	$52,200	$ 97,200

The top overall producers for starting salaries were Loma Linda University ($71,400), MIT ($71,100), Harvey Mudd College ($71,000), Cal Tech ($69,700) and Stanford ($67,500). The highest median mid-career salaries went to Dartmouth ($129,000), Harvard ($126,000), MIT ($126,000), Harvey Mudd College ($125,000), and Stanford/Princeton ($124,000). Beyond the top ten, Virginia public schools are represented by the College of William and Mary (27), George Mason University (46), James Madison University (118), Old Dominion (122), and Virginia Commonwealth University (196).

And as for the top party schools?

Salary Potential	Party Potential*	College or University
1	16	U of IL—Urbana Champaign
2	15	Tulane
3	9	UC Santa Barbara
4	13	U of Colorado-Boulder
5	8	University of Texas
6	1	University of Florida
7	3	Pennsylvania State University
8	19	University of Alabama
9	17	Arizona State University
10	6	Randolph Macon (VA)

*Based on the Princeton Review 2009 Top 20 Party Schools.

VA Private College Week

Be there or be square! Virginia Private College Week begins tomorrow and ends Saturday, August 1st.