Any major that's attached to science or engineering promises to be a boon for graduates entering the job world, according to findings of PayScale.com in its 2016-2017 College Salary Report.
Science and math majors dominate the top college starting salaries and mid-career earners, and are largely made up of male graduates. In fact, 80% of those who graduate with the top degree on this list are men, according to PayScale data. Worse yet, only 8% of physics majors and 7% of engineering majors are women.
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The rankings below are based on data collected by PayScale from 983 universities and includes graduates with bachelor's degrees in 336 disciplines.
The universities surveyed include 85% of U.S. schools with an enrollment of more than 5,000 and 62% of schools with enrollment over 1,000, using a sample size of 1.4 million "degree holding, full-time, civilian employees working in the U.S." The number in parentheses provides the overall ranking (of the 336 majors) for mid-career pay.
Here, then, are the best paying college majors for 2017:
BEST PAYING COLLEGE MAJORS
30. Actuarial Science
Starting Salary: $60,800
Mid-Career Pay: $119,000 (3rd best)
29. Packaging Science
Starting Salary: $61,100
Mid-Career Pay: $94,600 (47th best)
28. Electronics Engineering
Starting Pay: $61,300
Mid-Career Pay: $99,600 (33rd best)
BEST PAYING COLLEGE MAJORS
27. Architectural Engineering
Starting Salary: $61,700
Mid-Career Pay: $89,800 (64th best)
26. Manufacturing Engineering
Starting Salary: $62,000
Mid-Career Pay: $93,200 (50th best)
BEST PAYING COLLEGE MAJORS
25. Engineering
Starting Salary: $62,600
Mid-Career Pay: $107,000 (19th best)
24. Biomedical Engineering
Starting Pay: $62,700
Mid-Career Pay: $104,000 (25th best)
BEST PAYING COLLEGE MAJORS
23. Engineering Management
Starting Pay: $62,800
Mid-Career Pay: $98, 400 (34th best)
22. Aeronautical Engineering
Starting Salary: $63,000
Mid-Career Pay: $113,000 (9th best)
BEST PAYING COLLEGE MAJORS
21. (TIE) Mechanical Engineering
Starting Salary: $63,500
Mid-Career Pay: $103,000 (28th best)
21. (TIE) Computer Science & Mathematics
Starting Salary: $63,500
Mid-Career Salary: $111,000 (11th best)
BEST PAYING COLLEGE MAJORS
19. (TIE) Industrial Engineering
Starting Pay: $63,800
Mid-Career Pay: $104,000 (25th best)
19. (TIE) INDUSTRIAL & Systems Engineering
Starting Salary: $63,800
Mid-Career Pay: $108,000 (15th best)
BEST PAYING COLLEGE MAJORS
17. Electrical & Electronics Engineering
Starting Salary: $64,000
Mid-Career Pay: $108,000 (15th best)
16. Software Engineering
Starting Salary: $64,700
Mid-Career Pay: $98,100 (36th best)
BEST PAYING COLLEGE MAJORS
15. Computer Science
Starting Salary: $65,300
Mid-Career Pay: $107,000 (19th best)
14. (TIE) Dental Hygiene
Starting Salary: $65,400
Mid-Career Pay: $74,900 (142nd best)
BEST PAYING COLLEGE MAJORS
14. (TIE) Aerospace Engineering
Starting salary: $65,400
Mid-Career Pay: $106,000 (23rd best)
12. Materials Science & Engineering
Starting Salary: $65,800
Mid-Career Pay: $108,000 (15th best)
BEST PAYING COLLEGE MAJORS
11. Systems Engineering
Starting Salary: $66,400
Mid-Career Pay: $121,000 (2nd)
10. Electrical Engineering
Starting Salary: $67,000
Mid-Career Pay: $110,000 (13th)
BEST PAYING COLLEGE MAJORS
9. Electronics & Communications Engineering
Staring Salary: $68,000
Mid-Career Pay: $115,000 (7th best)
8. Electrical & Computer Engineering
Starting Salary: $68,100
Mid-Career Pay: $114,000 (8th best)
BEST PAYING COLLEGE MAJORS
7. Nuclear Engineering
Starting Salary: $68,500
Mid-Career Pay: $116,000 (5th best)
6. Computer Engineering
Starting Salary: $69,600
Mid-Career Pay: $113,000 (9th best)
BEST PAYING COLLEGE MAJORS
5. Chemical Engineering
Starting Salary: $69,800
Mid-Career Pay: $119,000 (3rd)
4. Mining Engineering
Starting Salary: $70,200
Mid-Career Pay: $107,000 (19th)
BEST PAYING COLLEGE MAJORS
3. Computer Science & Engineering
Starting Salary: $71,200
Mid-Career Pay: $116,000 (5th best)
2. Physician Assistant Studies
Starting Salary: $85,200
Mid-Career Pay: $103,000 (28th best)
BEST PAYING COLLEGE MAJORS
1. Petroleum Engineering
Starting Salary: $96,700
Mid-Career Pay: $172,000 (1st: best)
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Ginger Szala
Ginger Szala is executive managing editor of Investment Advisor magazine. She covered the financial business and alternatives industry for 30 years while editor of Futures Magazine Group. MSJ Northwestern, BA University of Wisconsin-Madison. She is based in Chicago. Go Blackhawks!
