According to a study by the National Center for Education Statistics, it costs approximately $80,000 in tuition plus expenses to earn a bachelor’s degree from a public four-year college and about $140,000 to gain the same credentials from a private nonprofit four-year institution. There are certainly ways to find this kind of funding – grants, student loans and, hello, scholarships! – but will your major of choice be worth the money? If you select one of the fields included on PayScale’s list of best-paying college majors, it is decidedly so.
The annual list is dominated by engineering, with seven of the top 10 in branches of the field, while the other top-earning degrees include physics, applied mathematics and computer science:
Petroleum Engineering
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Starting Median Pay: $97,900
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Mid-Career Median Pay: $155,000
Chemical Engineering
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Staring Median Pay: $64,500
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Mid-Career Median Pay: $109,000
Electrical Engineering
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Staring Median Pay: $61,300
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Mid-Career Median Pay: $103,000
Materials Science and Engineering
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Starting Median Pay: $60,400
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Mid-Career Median Pay: $103,000
Aerospace Engineering
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Starting Median Pay: $60,700
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Mid-Career Median Pay: $102,000
Computer Engineering
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Starting Median Pay: $61,800
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Mid-Career Median Pay: $101,000
Physics
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Starting Median Pay: $49,800
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Mid-Career Median Pay: $101,000
Applied Mathematics
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Starting Median Pay: $52,600
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Mid-Career Median Pay: $98,600
Computer Science
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Starting Median Pay: $56,600
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Mid-Career Median Pay: $97,900
Nuclear Engineering
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Starting Median Pay: $65,100
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Mid-Career Median Pay: $97,800
Does this list have you reconsidering your college path or will you stick to your intended major?
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