The Top Ten Highest Paying College Majors | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Student Life

The Top Ten Highest Paying College Majors

All that glitters is not gold.

304
The Top Ten Highest Paying College Majors
YouTube

These days, it seems like everyone is going to college with one goal in mind: to make money. Everyone has aspiring dreams of graduating college and working right out of school with a six figure salary, but the question is, what majors should people who want to make a lot of money look into?

Well, there is one very interesting trend when it comes to the top ten highest paying majors, nine out of ten of them are all specializing in the engineering field. Shocker. It will be interesting to unveil which major is the only major in the top ten outside the world of engineering.

The top-paying degree is petroleum engineering, according to a new report from The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce. The report used 2013 Census data and concluded that employees who graduate with this degree earn a median annual salary of $136,000 per year. The second-highest earning degrees are ranked as pharmacy, pharmaceutical sciences and pharmaceutical administration. In addition to being the second highest paying college major, this is also one of the most difficult fields to enter simply because of the number of people trying to enter this field. These pharmaceutical graduates earned an average of $113,000 annually. The report broke down earnings for 137 college majors. It found that after a year, the salary difference between the highest- and lowest-paying major is $97,000. Over the course of a career, it turns out to be a difference of $3.4 million. While engineering majors make up the majors that bring in the most money, business management and administration is the most common major, with 8% of the workforce comprising this major. Business majors, science, technology, engineering and math majors make up a vast majortity of the American workforce at 46%.

The list of highest paying college majors is in order, respectively. Petroleum engineering, pharmacy (which includes a wide variety of specialties) metallurgical engineering, mining and mineral engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, computer engineering, geological engineering. The median annual salaries of these jobs is also listed, respectively at $136,000, $113,000, $98,000, $97,000, $96,000, $93,000, $90,000, $87,000, $87,000, $87,000.

Now, to break away from the monotony and statistical data of this topic and to revisit a point I made earlier, I have to be able to interject my personal opinion on this matter. I believe very strongly that one should not only be able to enjoy his or hers job, but they should also be able to make a good living by doing it in order to make enough money to live comfortably and support their families. It is always important to be able to give your kids everything that you never had as a child, and I think that from a philosophical note, one is not going to be able to accomplish these things without the proper funding. But, I am also a big proponent of not just wanting to major in something and take a job in that field because it pays a lot of money. You have to consider things like what you are good at and if you will actually enjoy this job, because if you take a job solely for the money and you end up hating what you do, that puts you in a very bad situation. I am often reminded of something my great uncle once told me when we were discussing what I wanted to do for a job at one family Christmas. He said, “Do what you love and the money will come”. So, I plan to live by this as I choose to major in public relations in college, a major in which I have the opportunity to exercise my people skills and study topics that I enjoy.

The message that I would like to convey to students in high school that are undecided on a major, and to students in college that may be in the same boat is to do what you love and the money will come, eventually. It may take you years of experience in the field of your job to finally make the money that you always dreamed of. But, money is not always the true source of happiness. Doing what you love on a daily basis, no matter what your paycheck says, is the true source of happiness in the workforce.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Featured

12 Midnight NYE: Fun Ideas!

This isn't just for the single Pringles out there either, folks

14642
Friends celebrating the New Years!
StableDiffusion

When the clock strikes twelve midnight on New Year's Eve, do you ever find yourself lost regarding what to do during that big moment? It's a very important moment. It is the first moment of the New Year, doesn't it seem like you should be doing something grand, something meaningful, something spontaneous? Sure, many decide to spend the moment on the lips of another, but what good is that? Take a look at these other suggestions on how to ring in the New Year that are much more spectacular and exciting than a simple little kiss.

Keep Reading...Show less
piano
Digital Trends

I am very serious about the Christmas season. It's one of my favorite things, and I love it all from gift-giving to baking to the decorations, but I especially love Christmas music. Here are 11 songs you should consider adding to your Christmas playlists.

Keep Reading...Show less
campus
CampusExplorer

New year, new semester, not the same old thing. This semester will be a semester to redeem all the mistakes made in the previous five months.

1. I will wake up (sorta) on time for class.

Let's face it, last semester you woke up with enough time to brush your teeth and get to class and even then you were about 10 minutes late and rollin' in with some pretty unfortunate bed head. This semester we will set our alarms, wake up with time to get ready, and get to class on time!

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

The 5 Painfully True Stages Of Camping Out At The Library

For those long nights that turn into mornings when the struggle is real.

2938
woman reading a book while sitting on black leather 3-seat couch
Photo by Seven Shooter on Unsplash

And so it begins.

1. Walk in motivated and ready to rock

Camping out at the library is not for the faint of heart. You need to go in as a warrior. You usually have brought supplies (laptop, chargers, and textbooks) and sustenance (water, snacks, and blanket/sweatpants) since the battle will be for an undetermined length of time. Perhaps it is one assignment or perhaps it's four. You are motivated and prepared; you don’t doubt the assignment(s) will take time, but you know it couldn’t be that long.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

The 14 Stages Of The Last Week Of Class

You need sleep, but also have 13 things due in the span of 4 days.

1764
black marker on notebook

December... it's full of finals, due dates, Mariah Carey, and the holidays. It's the worst time of the year, but the best because after finals, you get to not think about classes for a month and catch up on all the sleep you lost throughout the semester. But what's worse than finals week is the last week of classes, when all the due dates you've put off can no longer be put off anymore.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments