Which College Majors Pay the Most? 25 Excellent Studies and Rankings

Have you chosen your college major yet? If not, you might want to take a look at this list of twenty-five excellent studies and rankings for college majors and degrees. The list contains a wide variety of majors, which range from engineers to doctors to art majors; however, it appears that only one major stands head and shoulders above the rest when it comes to pay scale — engineers.

Do not take that major to heart, though, if your heart is not set on math and science. Students with MBA degrees were the only students who felt a increase in starting salaries last year, and it seems that — over the long haul — some other majors may equal engineering in mid-career pay raises.

The following list is provided in alphabetical order by article and/or study title and sources are listed in most cases.

1. 10 Most Popular Majors and What They Pay: This list shows that biology comes in first, but it does not pay the most — the highest paying college degree is in marketing, and it is near the bottom of the popularity list.
2. 52 Career Starting Salaries: This writer for College Crunch provides a list of career options that show career options by salary. Good list to peruse before you pick a major.
3. Average College Graduate Salaries: Simply Hired offers a different view of average salaries and related titles in this article.
4. Average Starting + Current Salaries by Major: StudentsReview provides a list that shows numbers generated from survey data. Astronomy ranks high with economics and finance.
5. Average Starting Salary by Degree for 2009: This list, gathered from National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE), shows the change in major between 2008 and 2009. Chemical engineering remains strong.
6. Careers: This undergraduate section at the Vanderbilt University Web site offers a wider look at a number of career options, including starting salaries, gathered from a variety of sources.
7. College Graduate Salaries by Field and Major: This University Language Services list us based upon the NACE report, but shows average salary for all new college grads as well (almost $50k).
8. How Much Are You Worth? If you want an engineering degree because it might offer a larger salary, learn more about this trend from Mechanical Engineering.
9. Is your degree worth $1 million — or worthless? Take a look at this article to learn more about the degree level you might want to choose, based upon return for your money. Doctors receive high marks here.
10. MBA Schools: Whose Graduates Earn High Salaries? If you’d prefer an MBA degree, learn more about which schools push out the highest-paid graduates.
11. Most Lucrative College Degrees: Based upon the 2009 NACE report, this CNNMoney report shows that petroleum engineering currently is the most lucrative college degree, with an average starting offer of $83,121.
12. PayScale College Salary Report: This is the source for many reports shown here. Learn more about top salary potential by type of school, degrees that pay you back and more.
13. Salary and Recruitment Trends 2009 Report: Top MBA offers salary recruitment trends for MBA majors.
14. Salary Increase By Major: What does the Wall Street Journal say about salary increases by major? Look closely to find Economics at $210,000.00 at mid-career 90th percentile salary.
15. Salary Offers to College Class of 2009 Are Flat: This article is based upon the NACE report as well as a Salary Survey report. In this perspective, business administration majors saw an increase in salaries from 2008.
16. Six-Figure Jobs You Don’t Have To Go To College For: If you’re about to give up on a college career, try this Forbes list to learn how you can earn money without a degree (but college degrees usually always help when it comes to hiring for top positions).
17. The 10 Most Worthless College Majors: This is useful as a humorous interlude in this list, and it also contains a degree of truthfulness in the article and in the comments. Art History does rank higher than religion in this list.
18. The Best and Worst College Degrees by Salary: This MoneyWatch article shows the worst paying college degrees, which works a bit backwards, but shows you were not to do if money is an objective. Topping this list is social work.
19. The College Degrees With The Biggest Salaries: Forbes tosses in their tallies with an article and images that explains the NACE report with a high degree of clarity. Engineers, over time, may not have it as good as history and psych majors? Find out.
20. Top 10 College Degrees by Demand in 2009: Demand does not always equal high pay, and this list shows why. Computer engineering is down on the list, high in salary.
21. Top 10 College Degrees in 2009 with Massive Demand: Although taken from the NACE list, read the writer’s take at the end of the article, which contains a link to a 2008 comparative list as well.
22. Top 10 Most Lucrative College Majors: Netscape Money offers this scale, based upon PayScale.com. The lists show the highest starting salaries (chemical engineering), highest mid-career salaries (aerospace engineering) and lowest mid-career salaries (social work tops this list).
23. Top Colleges ranked by Average Salary of Graduates: While this article does not broach majors, one look at the list says it all: engineering (think MIT and Cal Tech).
24. What is engineering degree worth? Engineers get top pay! This Michigan Tech interpretation of the NACE report is more in depth than other articles.
25. What Your College Major Pays: Careerbuilder is at it again, using CBSalary.com to find common majors and their starting salaries. The best salary on this list is business administration at $57k per year.