If you’re the type of student who’s looking to get the most bang for your buck in terms of a college education, you’re going to want to pick the college major that’s going to guarantee you the highest salary in the long term. While this isn’t the most admirable trait to have — a money-grubber — it makes sense. Why pay upwards to $150,000 for an education if you’re going to make a pittance when you graduate? Having the brainpower to compete in aggressive college programs is a great skill. If you’re that type of student, consider the following college majors and their respective post-graduation salaries.
- Petroleum Engineering: Pay starts at $93,000/yr and can reach $157,000.
- Aerospace Engineering: Pay starts at $59,400/yr and can reach $108,000.
- Chemical Engineering: Pay starts at $64,800/yr and can reach $108,000.
- Electrical Engineering: Pay starts at $60,800/yr and can reach $104,000.
- Nuclear Engineering: Pay starts at $63,900/yr and can reach $104,000.
- Applied Mathematics: Pay starts at $56,400/yr and can reach $101,000.
- Biomedical Engineering: Pay starts at $54,800, yr and can reach $101,000.
- Physics: Pay starts at $50,700/yr and can reach $99,600.
- Computer Engineering: Pay starts at $61,200/yr and can reach $99,500.
- Economics: Pay starts at $48,800/yr and can reach $97,800.
As you can see, eight of the top 10 most lucrative majors all have “engineering” in the title. Additionally, all 10 involve mathematics and aspects of science. These majors may make sense in the economic aspect, but if you don’t have the intellectual chops to make it in these fields, you aren’t going to succeed. With the high salaries comes first-rate competition. The best of the best will be vying for these jobs, so you have to be prepared to be cutthroat.
At the bottom of the college majors by salary rankings sit careers such as child and family studies, elementary education, social work, and athletic training. These jobs are not inferior to the job of a mathematician or petroleum engineer, but the demand for those skilled in the hard sciences is far greater than those skilled in the social sciences.