Top Degrees

[Al B. Sure!]

http://education.yahoo.net/articles/degree_winners_and_losers.htm?wid=1

The #1 Winning degree:

Winner #1 - Bachelor's Degree in Finance

Let's start with the simple fact that studying money is an excellent way to make money.

But the real surprise here is that finance edged ahead of the more general purpose business degree, in large part because HR recruiters tell us that companies are currently seeking pre-trained employees who don't require training. Finance grads fit this formula and can move easily into accounting or business.

Starting Salary: $47,500
Mid-Career Salary: $91,500

[Kuciwalker]

They obviously left all of real degrees off that list...

[Al B. Sure!]

Math degrees seriously aren't big money makes, kuci. I know a guy with a Math BS. He was working my job as a food service manager. He wanted to get his MS and go into teaching.

[DaShi]

"[Click here to find the right college for you]"

The whole thing looks more like an ad than a summary of rigorously collected data.

[Kuciwalker]

Best Undergrad College Degrees By Salary Starting Median Pay Mid-Career Median Pay
Petroleum Engineering $93,000 $157,000
Aerospace Engineering $59,400 $108,000
Chemical Engineering $64,800 $108,000
Electrical Engineering $60,800 $104,000
Nuclear Engineering $63,900 $104,000
Applied Mathematics $56,400 $101,000
Biomedical Engineering $54,800 $101,000
Physics $50,700 $99,600
Computer Engineering $61,200 $99,500
Economics $48,800 $97,800
Computer Science $56,200 $97,700
Industrial Engineering $58,200 $97,600
Mechanical Engineering $58,300 $97,400
Building Construction $52,900 $94,500
Materials Science & Engineering $59,400 $93,600
Civil Engineering $53,500 $93,400
Statistics $50,000 $92,900
Finance $47,500 $91,500

[Al B. Sure!]

"[Click here to find the right college for you]"

The whole thing looks more like an ad than a summary of rigorously collected data.

Yeah they say this at the end though:

*All salary information comes from Payscale's 2010-2011 College Salary Report that details average earnings for graduates with a bachelor's degree and no higher, except salary information for Medical Assistants, which comes from Payscale's October 2010 salary information for all Medical Assistants, regardless of their degree, in their first year (average starting salary) and 10-19 year on the job (average mid-career salary).

[giblets]

http://education.yahoo.net/articles/...sers.htm?wid=1

The #1 Winning degree:

Wow, how did you manage to screw up so badly?

[Asher]

Best Undergrad College Degrees By Salary Starting Median Pay Mid-Career Median Pay
Petroleum Engineering $93,000 $157,000
Aerospace Engineering $59,400 $108,000
Chemical Engineering $64,800 $108,000
Electrical Engineering $60,800 $104,000
Nuclear Engineering $63,900 $104,000
Applied Mathematics $56,400 $101,000
Biomedical Engineering $54,800 $101,000
Physics $50,700 $99,600
Computer Engineering $61,200 $99,500
Economics $48,800 $97,800
Computer Science $56,200 $97,700
Industrial Engineering $58,200 $97,600
Mechanical Engineering $58,300 $97,400
Building Construction $52,900 $94,500
Materials Science & Engineering $59,400 $93,600
Civil Engineering $53,500 $93,400
Statistics $50,000 $92,900
Finance $47,500 $91,500

My SO's a chemical engineer by degree, working in petroleum engineering.
I'm a CS grad, of course.

$56K starting seems low for CS, in any case.

[onodera]

My SO's a chemical engineer by degree, working in petroleum engineering.
I'm a CS grad, of course.

$56K starting seems low for CS, in any case.

Perhaps they include all of the PHP jockeys? Also, this is median salary, not average salary.

[Jon Miller]

There are a lot of CS people working 'relatively' low paying jobs. For example, a lot of the new hires for games development, I think.

JM

[Dinner]

Best Undergrad College Degrees By Salary Starting Median Pay Mid-Career Median Pay
Petroleum Engineering $93,000 $157,000
Aerospace Engineering $59,400 $108,000
Chemical Engineering $64,800 $108,000
Electrical Engineering $60,800 $104,000
Nuclear Engineering $63,900 $104,000
Applied Mathematics $56,400 $101,000
Biomedical Engineering $54,800 $101,000
Physics $50,700 $99,600
Computer Engineering $61,200 $99,500
Economics $48,800 $97,800
Computer Science $56,200 $97,700
Industrial Engineering $58,200 $97,600
Mechanical Engineering $58,300 $97,400
Building Construction $52,900 $94,500
Materials Science & Engineering $59,400 $93,600
Civil Engineering $53,500 $93,400
Statistics $50,000 $92,900
Finance $47,500 $91,500

You missed Geologists who start out, on average, at ~$85,000.

http://geology.com/articles/geologist-salary.shtml

[Jon Miller]

"The new geologists earning these salaries were a mix of B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. geologists."

This isn't the same sort of thing. If you are going to include all of these, then you should include lawyers and doctors and so on.

JM

[Dinner]

Opps, didn't see that.

[dannubis]

Best Undergrad College Degrees By Salary Starting Median Pay Mid-Career Median Pay
Petroleum Engineering $93,000 $157,000
Aerospace Engineering $59,400 $108,000
Chemical Engineering $64,800 $108,000
Electrical Engineering $60,800 $104,000
Nuclear Engineering $63,900 $104,000
Applied Mathematics $56,400 $101,000
Biomedical Engineering $54,800 $101,000
Physics $50,700 $99,600
Computer Engineering $61,200 $99,500
Economics $48,800 $97,800
Computer Science $56,200 $97,700
Industrial Engineering $58,200 $97,600
Mechanical Engineering $58,300 $97,400
Building Construction $52,900 $94,500
Materials Science & Engineering $59,400 $93,600
Civil Engineering $53,500 $93,400
Statistics $50,000 $92,900
Finance $47,500 $91,500

Funny that. In Europe chemical and material sciences engineering are among the highest paying jobs .

[Asher]

Opps, didn't see that.

It didn't strike you as absurd?

I live in a city where geology is massive (due to oil & gas), and they don't start anywhere NEAR $85K with just a bachelors.