Top 10 Highest Paying College Majors
An important consideration when choosing a major is the possibility of gaining lucrative
employment following graduation. In a perfect world, the best college major would
simply be the one that interests you the most, period. Naturally, your level of
interest in the field should be weighed more heavily than any other, as this is
something of which you intend to make a career. However, since you are about to
invest a lot of time and money in this education, it would be nice if you did so
with the confidence you will be able to earn a comfortably living once you have
received your degree. We certainly can't guess what your favorite subject is, but
below we have listed ten popular majors that are likely to help you become financially
independent following graduation. While in the process of conducting your
scholarship search at Scholarships.com, you might want to consider one or
more of the following majors, just to keep your options open. The National Association
of Colleges and Employers (NACE) conducts quarterly salary surveys designed to track
starting salaries for recent graduates from Bachelor's degree programs. Data for
the NACE survey are complied from career services offices at public and private
institutions across the United States.
The most recent NACE year-end report indicates the top 10 highest paying college
majors are:
- Chemical Engineering ($55,900 average starting salary)
- Computer Engineering ($54,877 average starting salary)
- Electrical/Electronics/Communications engineering, ($52,899 average starting salary)
- Mechanical Engineering ($50,672 average starting salary)
- Computer Science ($50,046 average starting salary)
- Accounting ($45,723 average starting salary)
- Economics/Finance/Banking ($45,191 average starting salary)
- Civil Engineering ($44,999 average starting salary)
- Business Administration/Management ($39,850 average starting salary)
- Marketing/Marketing Management/Marketing Research ($36,260 average starting salary)
This information reflects starting salaries for 2005-2006 academic year Bachelor’s
degree graduates across the country. Majors with less than 45 job offers across
the sample population are not included in the list of top 10 college majors.
The Scholarships.com free
college search can help you find colleges and universities that offer programs
in any of the top 10 highest paying college majors that interest you