According to CNN Money, the best average salaries in the class of 2006 are in Engineering:

1. Chemical Engineering: $55,900
2. Electrical Engineering: $52,899
3. Mechanical Engineering: $50,672
4. Computer Science: $50,046
5. Accounting: $45,723
6. Economics/Finance: $45,191
7. Civil Engineering: $44,999
8. Business Administration: $39,850
9. Marketing: $36,260
10. Liberal Arts: $30,828

While it’s nice to know that I won’t be living on the street any time soon, these statistics are quite general. There’s room for incredible variance within each category depending where the job is, your experience, the college you’re graduating from, and other factors. For example, from what I’ve heard, the average salaries students are getting at Cornell in engineering is substantially higher.

The worst news is:

The survey, which polled 83 different private and public schools across the country, revealed that computer science graduates might not get as much as they did in previous years, as offers fell slightly to $50,046.

However, given that there are only 150 of us in any given year, supply and demand should catch up eventually.

6 Responses to “Most Lucrative College Degrees”

1. andy guess says:

   4/12/2006 at 11:53 am

   English: $55,000
   Finance: $55,000
   Information Science: $55,000
   History: $55,000

   How the hell is this possible? Get an offer from an investment bank. All majors encouraged to apply.

   Reply
2. Nagowski says:

   4/14/2006 at 9:06 pm

   I think you should calculate these salaries on an hourly basis.

   Reply
3. Msteele says:

   4/18/2006 at 5:12 pm

   That’s why averages are averages. All this data is pulled from stats.bls.gov so not sure HOW accurate it is. Definitely general. I recently wrote an intro for a career information on the highest paid careers. If you search in google for ‘highest paid careers’, it comes up right below the forbes listing.

   Highest Paid Careers

   Healthcare is where the jobs of the future are – and the big money too. Medical professions rule the list of top-paying occupations. Nine of the top 10 high paying jobs are in the medical field. Chief executive officers were the only other occupation in the to 10 outside of the healthcare industry. A Surgeon is the highest paid occupation in the United States according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics ( http://stats.bls.gov/ ). The average annual salary for a surgeon was $189,590, according to statistics from the Labor Department. Anesthesiologists and obstetricians and gynecologists were right up there as were internists and pediatricians. Part of the reason these professions pay so well is the skill level needed and the costly training required. On average, graduates leave from four years in medical school with $110,000 in student loan debt, according to the American Medical Association ( http://www.ama-assn.org/ ). As well, these professions entail long work hours. Top paying medical professionals work much more than 40 hours per week. For more information on the hottest careers, jobs, and degrees(including MBA’s), read my columns online atEducationGuys.com

   Reply
4. Prabhu says:

   9/26/2006 at 7:05 pm

   It is correct

   Reply
5. Lane says:

   6/8/2007 at 10:15 pm

   This is a list of the highest paid undergrad degrees…of course if you go to school for an extra 10 years, or spend 10-20 and become a CEO you will get paid more. Most people will only do four years of higher education if they are lucky.

   Reply
6. Jimmy says:

   12/5/2007 at 3:03 pm

   Yeah the only reason why medicine tops the list is because tehy calculate using the average income–that doesnt mean you will be rolling in the dough if you go into healthcare. That only means you are guaranteed a decent income or almost guaranteed one. The ceiling is way higher in investment banking and law.

   Reply