Lifetime Salaries Can Literally Vary by Millions

As millions of students prepare to graduate from high school and head off to college, well-meaning parents often encourage them to choose the major of their dreams.  Sometimes, students have known for years the particular career that would be perfect for them.  Other times, students enter college “undecided” and end up making a decision as they move through their coursework. But few students realize the economic impact of their choices.

On average, an individual with a bachelor’s degree earns nearly twice the lifetime income of someone with a high school diploma. But just as significant – from a monetary point of view – is the choice of major that can either launch a student into a high paying career or leave the graduate struggling to pay off skyrocketing student debt. In fact, college graduates with the highest-paying majors earn $3.4 million more than those with the lowest-paying majors, over the course of their careers, according to a study by the Georgetown University Center of Education and the Workforce.

The choice of major can have an even bigger impact on future earnings than choice of school, according to PayScale, an online salary, benefits and compensation information company.  So which majors reap the greatest reward?  Hands down, engineering.  In fact, a report in U.S. News and World Report, citing statistics from Payscale, listed various fields of Engineering in all top ten spots. 

Petroleum Engineering, which took the top spot with a median starting salary of $96,544, is offered as a major at many campuses of Penn State University and at several Texas universities.  Computer Engineering, which came in second with a median starting salary of $74,026, is offered at several New Jersey institutions: The College of New Jersey, New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT), Princeton University and Stevens Institute of Technology.

Chemical Engineering came in third place with a median starting salary of $73,627.  It’s offered as a major at Princeton, Rutgers, and Rowan universities, NJIT, Stevens Institute of Technology, NYU, Lehigh University, Lafayette College, and the University of Delaware.

The next seven highest paying fields, with median starting salaries ranging from $73,175 to $67,385, are Nuclear, Electrical, Systems, Aerospace & Aeronautical, Materials, Industrial, and Mechanical Engineering. 

Of course, these are national statistics that do not take into account the various job climates in different parts of the country. In New Jersey, for example, the highest-paying industries are Pharmaceutical Research & Development and Pharmaceutical Manufacturing. The reason is simply that New Jersey is home to some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies, including Novartis, Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck. Other high paying fields in the Garden State are Information Technology and Financial Services. 

Perhaps students should take this information into account when they check off the “choice of major” box on their college applications!  

Susan Alaimo is the founder of Collegebound Review. For the past 25 years, Collegebound Review's Ivy League educated tutors have prepared students for the PSAT®, SAT®, ACT®, Subject Tests®, AP courses, and all high school subjects. Visit www.CollegeboundReview.com or call 908-369-5362