What should I major in college for the most money?

Choosing a field of study can be a difficult decision as you grapple with picking a major that reflects your personal interests. However, in times as uncertain and dynamic as these, there is an increasing interest in college majors which seem to provide valuable and long-lasting economic prospects. Studies reveal that 80% of undergraduate students choose their majors based on salary and benefits prospects in the future. This article will provide some key observations on college majors that are statistically deemed financially beneficial.

On an average jobs with a bachelor's degree have an average pay of $33,000 at the entry level. However, averages are deceptive since some majors have greater earning potential than others.  In some sense, choosing a college major is more important than choosing where to go to college. Over a lifetime, the average difference between a high school and college graduate’s wages is $1 million, but the difference between the lowest-and the highest-paying majors is $3.4 million.

Consistently, majors in engineering and STEM, health and business are shown to have the highest earning potential. Moreover, wages of the former major’s grow by around $21,000 from early to mid-career compared to a growth of $8,000 in education and service fields. STEM majors experience the highest wage growth over the course of their careers at 50% compared to 28% growth for graduates in teaching and service related majors (education, psychology, social work). Business and economics majors’ wage potential has the highest range, indicating highest growth potential. Majors related to health and life sciences have the highest likelihood of completing a graduate degree, also receiving the largest wage premiums from a graduate degree. All these findings usually point towards the same set of majors that are considered to be financially lucrative. These include engineering, computer science, statistics, mathematics, health, business, economics majors, with over 50% of college students majoring in these areas. 

On the other hand, majors in the liberal arts, humanities, serving (such as psychology) and education have the least earning potential and tend to have below average wages. Given that college tuition is rising and more students are graduating with student loan debt, people are looking out to avoid majors with the highest unemployment rates and lowest median earnings. Liberal arts are not tied to a specific career path causing people to think they are not financially lucrative. There is some truth to this statement, however, there are several other non-liberal art professional majors which tend to have lower earnings than the liberal arts. Majors in psychology, education, theology, social work, theatre and even medical preparatory programs have some of the lowest median earnings. 

One thing to keep in mind before making any decision on your major is that there are earnings variations within majors. For example, earrings at the 25th percentile for marine engineering is $44,000 but at the 75th percentile is $120,000; a difference of $76,000. This major is viewed as highly pragmatic, however this does not guarantee the average wage of this major. Similar variations are often seen in physics and economics majors as well. 

A college major is also not a direct determinant of your future. Wages are also influenced by whether you work in the public sector, for-profit or non-profit sectors, and whether you pursue career development opportunities to hone and update your skills. While majors provide access to specific occupations and careers, college is just the beginning of a lifelong learning process. Furthermore, beyond the economic value of a major, students’ abilities, interests and academic preparation can drive their success. 

Source: Statistics and findings from “The Economic Value of College Majors” by Georgetown University