WASHINGTON — Economists have long-known there’s a link between educational level and earnings. Generally, higher levels of education produce greater earnings.
But which major a college student chooses also matters in the eventual paychecks.
FiveThirtyEightEconomics recommends that students choose a major that maximizes both their chances of graduating and their eventual income.
One of the most popular college majors is psychology, but more than half the students who major in it wind up in jobs that don’t even call for a college degree.
The major that produces the highest paying income for recent college graduates is petroleum engineering with average earnings of $110,000 a year.
With student loan debt at an all-time high, it makes financial sense that students consider the income potentials of their college majors.
Engineering degrees continue to be among the most lucrative. For example, average earnings for recent grads in chemical and nuclear engineering are about $65,000 a year.
Two non-engineering majors make the top tier at about $62,000 are astronomy and astrophysics and the business of actuarial science.
Journalism gets recent grads about $35,000 a year.
Other low-paying majors include zoology at $26,000 and library science at $22,000.
Below are the top-paying majors and the median amounts they earn, according to FiveThirtyEightEconomics:
- Petroleum engineering – $110,000
- Mining and mineral engineering – $75,000
- Metallurgical engineering – $73,000
- Naval architecture and marine engineering – $70,000
- Chemical engineering – $65,000
- Nuclear engineering – $65,000
- Actuarial science – $62,000
- Astronomy and astrophysics – $$62,000
- Mechanical engineering – $60,000
- Electrical engineering – $60,000
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