subject: Engineering Tops The List Of Highest Paying Degrees [print this page] It's a tough job market out there and it's vital to have a degree in order to be marketable if you are seeking employment. After investing time and money into obtaining their diplomas, many students want one which translates into significant earning potential . Here are a few Bachelor degrees which command very high pay right out of college.
The eight highest paying jobs all have one thing in common; they are all in the engineering sector. This includes the areas of petroleum, aerospace, chemical, electrical nuclear and biomedical engineering. Petroleum engineers earn the most with a median annual pay of a cool $93,000. Yes, that's starting salary and it only goes up from there. Salaries are extremely high in the petroleum sector due to the profitability of the oil business. Graduates in this field generally work to find and recover gas and oil reservoirs. Nuclear engineers can expect to start off in the $63k range. If you are mathematically inclined Engineering might be a great option to explore. It's one of the more difficult majors in school with a heavy course load and very math and science intensive.
Business majors can also be quite profitable. Economics majors can expect to start at $48k and finance students $47k. From observing these numbers, it's clear that the money lies in math and science. Math is the key to lucrative job positions. Engineering, Computer Science and Economic degrees all require excellent and advanced math skills while liberal arts majors such as Sociology and Teaching are towards the low end of the list salary wise.
The degrees with the lowest starting salaries include sociology, teaching, English and history. The starting pay for social workers and elementary teachers is at around the $33k range towards the lower end of the pay scale. Salaries are largely determined by supply and demand and graduates with degrees in Engineering are scarce and very much in demand while Liberal Arts degree holders are more commonplace.
This list only goes over the starting salaries right out of college which means that it doesn't cover the highest salaries as a whole. Many of individuals in other professions such as doctors or lawyers also have very high earnings. Don't give up if your science and math skills aren't the strongest. It's possible to be successful in any field if you enjoy and are great at what you do.
