With college setting students back an average of $38,270 per year, young people today are banking on their college degree opening doors to more than house parties and sororities—specifically, to top-paying jobs. But whether they succeed at this depends greatly on what they choose to study.
That’s because one major study from the New York Federal Reserve shows that those wishing to earn the big bucks after college may want to consider studying some form of engineering.
Even though it typically costs the same to study psychology as it does computer science, the research revealed 80% of the top 10 college majors with the highest incomes five years after graduation are engineering degrees, highlighting the trend toward technology industries in recent years.
The New York Fed studied the labor market outcomes of college graduates depending on their major—and computer engineering grads came out on top with an annual median salary of $80,000 within five years of tossing their graduation cap in the air.
Those who studied liberal arts or humanities are earning half of what engineering grads take home
Even within the field of engineering, not all degrees are equal. Those with more specialist engineering qualifications, like aerospace engineering, electrical engineering, and industrial engineering, end up earning slightly more than generalists.
Meanwhile, the only non-engineering degrees to make the list are the engineering-adjacent computer science—which ranked third with a median early career wage of $80,000—and finance. Although the latter just about made the list at number 10, 22 to 27-year-old finance grads can still expect to take home an impressive $70,000 per annum.
By contrast, those majoring in the liberal arts or humanities can expect to earn around half of those studying engineering.
Within five years of graduating from college, theology and religion, performing arts and liberal arts grads—which tied for the top spot of the major which pays the worst after college—earn $38,000 a year on average.
What’s more, although previous research has shown that a degree in the medical field is generally the golden ticket to the big bucks, miscellaneous biological science, treatment therapy, and nutrition sciences are included on the list of low-paying majors—all three pay early career starters up to $50,000.
For context, the U.S. personal median income (which includes 15-year-olds and those without a degree at all) is $45,180.
Degrees that pay the most in the five years after college
Computer engineering—$90,000
Chemical engineering—$85,000
Computer science—$87,000
Aerospace engineering—$85,000
Electrical engineering—$82,000
Industrial engineering—$83,000
Mechanical engineering—$80,000
General engineering—$75,000
Miscellaneous engineering—$75,000
Finance—$70,000
Degrees that pay the least in the five years after college
Fine arts—$45,000
Elementary education—$45,000
Early childhood education—$45,000
Biology—$45,000
Art history—$45,000
Anthropology—$45,000
Performing arts—$44,000
Social services—$43,000
Theology and religion—$41,600
Pharmacy—$40,000
Even if you’re studying engineering, don’t set your standards too high
Think an engineering degree at an Ivy League college will automatically make you successful? Think again.
Although certain degrees may increase your odds of landing a high-paying job, don’t bank on it; Nvidia cofounder Jensen Huang thinks setting your expectations too high at college actually makes it harder to succeed in the real world.
“People with very high expectations have very low resilience—and unfortunately, resilience matters in success,” Huang said during an interview with the Stanford Graduate School of Business. “One of my great advantages is that I have very low expectations.”
“I don’t know how to do it [but] for all of you Stanford students, I wish upon you ample doses of pain and suffering,” Huang said. “Greatness comes from character and character isn’t formed out of smart people—it’s formed out of people who suffered.”
A version of this story originally published on Fortune.com on March 25, 2024.
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