In an uncertain job market, its not unusual for workerscurrent and prospectiveto turn to the sure thing. And while theres no guarantees in life, a new report reveals the 10 majors that tend to lead to the highest-paying jobs for new graduates in their first four years after school. Knowing what leads to relatively higher earnings can provide something of a guiding light for Gen Z college students nervous about entering a turbulent economy rife with layoffs and, according to some experts, on the precipice of disruption.
The top-paying majors wont be much of a surpriseSTEM fields reign supreme, according to a report from the HEA Group, a higher education research and consulting agency. The report also took a look at what the most popular majors tend to payusing data from the U.S. Department of Education that reflects the average pay for four years after graduatingand only three lead to early-career salaries over $50,000 per year, on average.
Operations researchleading to jobs for analysts who use math to evaluate and improve a companys performanceleads to the highest average early-career earnings, at just over $112,000 per year. There are only 104,200 jobs for operations research analysts, per BLS data, but the field is expected to grow faster than average by 23% this decade.
Computer science is the most popular of the highly-paid majors, and degree-earners bring in around $105,000 per yearwell above the median U.S. income of around $57,000 for full-time workers. Meanwhile, the most popular major that pays the most is nursing, averaging over $76,000 per year, while a communications major can expect to earn around $49,000.
Any aggregate list will give an incomplete look at what graduates can expect to earn. There are other factors that go into starting salaries, including location and company (a communications professional might earn more right out of school at a tech company than at a non-profit, for example).
College isnt just about the money. There are many intangible aspects that salary data simply wont measure, the HEA Group notes. But this new salary data allows prospective students to make a more informed decision as they examine individual programs at colleges they are considering.
Though theres an ongoing debate about the value of a college degree for U.S. workers when its often accompanied by an ever-increasing student debt balance, research has found its still usually worth it, and the HEA Groups report also shows that those with a bachelors degree tend to out-earn associate degree holders and postsecondary certificate.
That said, there are always shades of grey. A graduate with an associate degree in a STEM field can still do pretty well for themselves: A physical science associate degree can lead to early career earnings near $85,000 per year. And an associate degree in nursing yields earnings just under $67,000 per year on average, close to nursing bachelor degree holders.
The average salaries for the highest-paying majors for bachelors degree recipients are:
- Operations Research: $112,000
- Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering: $109,000
- Computer Science: $105,000
- Marine Transportation: $104,000
- Computer Engineering: $99,000
- Veterinary Medicine: $97,500
- Petroleum Engineering: $97,000
- Systems Engineering: $95,000
- Pharmaceutical Science: $94,000
- Electrical, Electronics and Communications Engineering: $92,000
The average salaries for the most popular majors for bachelors degree recipients are (in descending order from most popular):
- Business Administration: $58,000
- Nursing: $76,500
- Psychology: $43,000
- Criminal Justice: $47,000
- Accounting: $64,000
- Communications: $49,000
- Teacher Education: $42,000
- Biology: $49,000
- Liberal Arts and Humanities: $44,000
- Health and Physical Education: $47,000
