When choosing a major, students balance personal interests and potential earnings. Considering the soaring costs of a college education, prospective students may want to evaluate the earning potential of their degrees against the investment required to get them. This can become especially important after they’ve moved their tassels from right to left.
The average bachelor’s degree puts its recipient over $35,000 in debt, according to the Education Data Initiative (EDI). The EDI also reports the average borrower takes 20 years to pay their college degrees off.
In order to succeed and not be weighed down by debt, considering the starting salary and future earning potential is vital. It’s also important to consider whether or not a bachelor’s degree is enough to succeed in a given field, or if an advanced degree will eventually become a blocker.
In some cases, starting salaries are high enough that student loans can be paid off quickly. Engineering programs, for example, practically dominate the list of highest-paid majors immediately following graduation, slotting 9 out of the top 16 spots in a recent report published by the New York Federal Reserve.
Here’s an overview of the the cost and pay per major after graduation and beyond.
Chemical Engineering
- Median starting salary: $79,000
- Median mid-career: $133,000
- Unemployment rate: 2%
- Underemployment rate: 17.8%
Chemical engineering ranks first in terms of median annual salaries, with recent graduates earning around $80,000 annually. Lucrative industries like energy and pharmaceuticals pay top dollar for chemical engineers.
Presently, chemical engineers enjoy low rates of unemployment, though underemployment is fairly high, at 17.8%. Most chemical engineers enjoy a comfortable amount of job security.
However, a recent report published by Boston Consulting Group suggests that because of chemical engineering’s popularity as an undergraduate field of study, in part due to its reputation for high paying jobs, the U.S. may face an oversupply of chemical engineers by as many as 41,000 by 2030. An oversupply could mean future wages will be driven down as supply exceeds demand.
Moreover, nearly half of all chemical engineers have an advanced degree, meaning many will be required to take on even more debt to meet the educational requirements of the field.
Computer Engineering
- Median starting salary: $80,000
- Median mid-career: $125,000
- Unemployment rate: 2.3%
- Underemployment rate: 13.3%
Following chemical engineering is computer engineering and then computer science, rounding out the only three majors surpassing $75,000 median yearly salaries for those holding newly minted college degrees.
Generally, computer engineers can thrive in their careers without advanced degrees being a serious blocker for upward mobility. This is a field where past work experience often outweighs degrees, so a lack of a Masters or Ph.D. may not hold back your career. Less than 39% of computer scientists hold advanced degrees.
Though the demand for qualified computer engineers is expected to go up _ the most of any engineer type — recent layoffs in the tech industry have been a sobering reminder for those in the field that job security is not guaranteed.
Compared to other forms of engineering, computer engineers face the most competition from globalization because much of the job’s requirements can be performed remotely. That makes countries with lower costs of living — and by extension, expected salaries — attractive to companies looking to trim expenses.
Finance and Business Analytics
- Median starting salary: $65-67,000
- Median mid-career: $100-104,000
- Unemployment rate: 2.7%
- Underemployment rate: 29%
Finance is a versatile degree that can be applicable to every industry, not to mention the massive finance industries of banking, insurance, and asset management. Though finance degree holders start off at a lower median pay than their engineering counterparts, by the middle of their careers, they nearly close the gap.
Moreover, finance degree holders are less pressured to pursue an advance degree. Approximately 30% of finance majors pursue advanced degrees, and less than 23% of business analytics majors do.
Both finance and business majors enjoy lower rates of unemployment and underemployment relative to the overall average across all industries, making these picks better options for those prioritizing job stability.
Construction Services
- Median starting salary: $64,000
- Median mid-career: $104,000
- Unemployment rate: 0.4%
- Under employment rate: 28.6%
Construction services may be the best risk-to-reward ratio for college degrees analyzed by the Federal Reserve.
Construction service degree holders are often responsible for project planning and management. They manage budgets, timelines, and resources to ensure construction projects meet deadlines and expectations.
The field has among the lowest rates of unemployment of any major reported on by the New York Federal Reserve. Moreover, a bachelor’s degree is all that is required to reach the full potential of their career — less than 10% of construction services workers have advanced degrees. That means less debt to pay off over time.
Starting salaries are mid range, however, by mid career, construction services degree holders get within range of the highest earning degrees.
There’s reason to believe that construction service degree holders will eventually top the list of highest earners. The Bureau of Labor and Statistics projects a 9% increase in demand for construction service degree holders by 2033, more than twenty times the overall projected growth rate across all industries of just 0.4%. The massive demand for construction service degree holders will likely drive wages even higher.
Advertising and Public Relations
- Median starting salary: $52,000
- Median mid-career: $92,000
- Unemployment rate: 43.9%
- Underemployment rate: 2.8%
For those wary of pursuing an advanced degree, advertising and public relations offers one of the highest earning potentials among bachelor’s degrees. Only about one in five advertising and public relations professionals have advanced degrees.
But there is a trade off: job security in the field is shaky, at best, with nearly 44% of professionals in this field facing underemployment.
With a decent median mid career salary of $92,000 and a staggering underemployment rate of 43.9%, the numbers suggest that the field is extremely competitive.
Biochemistry
- Median starting salary: $41,000
- Median mid-career: $86,000
- Unemployment rate: 41.3%
- Underemployment rate: 3.2%
For STEM college degrees, biochemistry bodes surprisingly poorly in terms of career prospects. Not only does the degree rank in the bottom quarter of starting salaries of the 70+ degrees reviewed by the New York Federal Reserve, nearly 70% of biochemistry majors hold advanced degrees, adding to their student debt burden.
However, having an advanced degree is essential to landing a high paying role as a biochemist. Moreover, those roles face steep competition. The American Chemical Society reports around 7,500 biochemistry degrees were conferred per year in 2021 and 2022.
However, the Bureau of Labor and Statistics estimates that between now and 2033, the number of biochemist or biophysicist employment opportunities will only grow by around 3,200. Over that same period, around 75,000 biochemistry degrees will be conferred. That means that around 5-10% of those who complete a bachelor’s degree in biochemistry over the next 10 years will land the title.
For those that do making it into the field, the figures look better. Those that not only got the degree and landed a position as a biochemist or biophysicist earned a median of over $107,000, with the top 10% making over $175,000.
Education (General)
- Median starting salary: $41,000
- Median mid-career: $52,000
- Unemployment rate: 1.5%
- Underemployment rate: 19.6%
On the flip side, crucial fields like education offer notoriously low pay of around $40,000 per year with little room for upward mobility. Mid career median pay, often benchmarked as 10+ years into your career, levels out at $52,000.
Moreover, more than half of educators have an advance degree, adding both time and investment to break into this field.
There are some financially redeeming qualities to this field. Unlike others on this list, many educators are eligible for significant loan forgiveness through the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program (PSLF). The Education Data Initiative reports the average loan balance forgiven through the PSFL is just shy of $77,000. Ultimately, loan forgiveness translates to a salary bump of around $5,000 a year.
However, getting approve for the PSLF program is tricky. According the the EDI, only 2.3% of all submitted applications have been approved since the program began. That’s pretty dismal, especially considering that of all borrowers eligible for this program, less than 19% ever apply in the first place.
On the upside, educators enjoy some of the greatest levels of employment security of all the degrees reviewed by the Federal Reserve, with unemployment levels at 1.5%, and even underemployment levels at about half the level of those in other fields.
Liberal Arts
- Median starting salary: $38,000
- Median mid-career: $65,000
- Unemployment rate: 56.7%
- Underemployment rate: 7.9%
Liberal arts degrees bode poorly in the real world job market by several measures. These degree holders rank in the bottom 5% of all degree holders, along side performing arts and theology.
However, liberal arts degrees fare worse than both performing arts and theology in terms of employment prospects in the first place.
The degree has an unemployment rate of 7.9%, the second highest over seventy possible majors and nearly double the overall median across all industries. To make matters worse, and additional 57% are underemployed. Overall, nearly two thirds of liberal arts degree holders do not have steady employment.
Considering several professions that don’t require college degrees offer higher pay without taking on debt, liberal arts degrees are a gamble that are unlikely to bolster success in the market.
Only about one third of those with liberal arts degrees maintain full-time employment – likely those with advanced degrees, considering just over 30% of liberal arts majors have one.
On the upside, those that do land on their feet in the job market will enjoy one of the largest percent increases in salary from the start to the mid point of their career, with the median mid career salary representing an 80% increase of the median starting salary.
Still, considering the additional investment in an advanced degree, it’s important to be aware liberal arts degrees rarely pay off.
