Top college majors to make money

College students arriving on campuses across the U. But now, they’ll need to choose a major. As part of its annual College Salary Reportreleased today, PayScale analyzed data from graduates of more than 2, schools in order majogs spotlight how much graduates typically make early and mid-way through their careers. The site also identified makf highest-paying college majors, and polled workers about whether or not they felt their work makes the world a better place. As in previous yearsSTEM fields dominate the highest-paying majors. But Sudarshan Sampath, director of research at PayScale, stresses that students should think carefully about what they want to earn a degree in, rather than deciding to pursue a major simply because it might pay. The key, he says, is to pick a major that you are interested in that can also give you useful hard and soft skills. This, says Sampath, is another important factor to consider. Like this story?

1. Computer Science

College is a time for many overwhelming experiences and exciting opportunities. For some alumni, the stress of college is paying off. The rise of information technology and digitization has transformed the job market, leading to an unprecedented demand for technical and analytical skills. To show just how valuable these college majors can be, Stacker used data from PayScale to rank the top college majors whose alumni make the most money in their respective professional careers. The rankings are based on the highest average mid-career salary, and with a tie, the major whose alumni earned more money on average earlier in their career is ranked higher. You may also like: Best public high schools in every state. With this degree, graduates can become aircraft designers, rocket engineers, or even flight-test planners. Majors in the subject should be well-versed in advanced math, physics, and computer programming.

Highest Paying Majors in the Future

The Princeton Review is currently experiencing some Dashboard down time. Come back again soon for an update. Sorry for the inconvenience. College offers you many academic freedoms. You can cultivate existing passions and explore new interests—and find a major that will put you on the career path you want.

Whatever major you choose, don’t pick based on the courses that come easiest to you, or what your friends are studying, because you’ll be cheating yourself out of some great opportunities and self-discovery!

We compiled this list of best college majors based on research covering job prospects, alumni salaries, and popularity. Not only will you learn more about computers—hardware and software—but you’ll also learn about the applications top college majors to make money such knowledge, such as how technology fits into a business scenario.

As a computer science majoryou’ll be exposed to areas such as robotics, natural language recognition programs, artificial intelligence, programming languages, numerical analysis, and gaming technology. Problem solving is a major component of computer science, no matter which segment of the industry you want to pursue.

Communications majors tend to be great storytellers with quick wits and fiery personalities. You’ll spend a significant amount of time scrutinizing different kinds of presentations—such as speeches and scripts—and the strategies behind the messages that speakers and writers use to make their points.

You’ll learn about verbal and nonverbal messages, audience reaction, and the varied effects of different communication environments. It will prepare you for a wealth of career options in business, advertising, human resources, public relations, government, education, media, and social services.

Because it often deals with current events and sophisticated statistical analysis, political science is timely, fascinating, and perpetually changing.

In a nutshell, it’s the study of politics of government, and some of the common concentrations are American government, public policy, foreign affairs, political philosophy, and comparative government. Political science majors develop excellent critical thinking and communication skills, and more broadly, an understanding of history and culture. There will be lots of reading, writing, and math. Possible career paths are diverse—from lawyer to politician to journalist.

Think you’re a born leader? You’ll need stellar people skills—no room for shrinking violets here—and talents in problem solvingnumber crunching, and decision making. And don’t forget great communication skills!

While studying business, you’ll get a thorough grounding in the theories and principles of accounting, finance, marketing, economics, statistics, and human resources functions.

You will be a whiz on how to budget, organize, plan, hire, direct, control, and manage various kinds of organizations —from entrepreneurial—type start—ups to multi—million—dollar corporations. The business major will also get you thinking about issues such as diversity, ethics, politics, and other dynamics that play a role in every work environment. Make sure those competitive juices are flowing; the business world is all, well, business.

Read More: Want to major in Game Design? Here’s what to look. Economics is the study of choices—those of individuals, businesses, governments, and societies and how they choose to spend their time and money and otherwise allocate their resources. And you guessed it: Economics involves heavy doses of critical thinking and math. This study of the production, distribution, and consumption of goods and services is an indispensable tool for making sense of the intricacies of the modern world.

It is also an excellent preparation for a future in business, as well as for graduate studies in law, public policy, and international studies. If you find yourself generally immersed in some book—anything from Shakespeare to Cheryl Strayed—you will likely find others just like you in the English department studying the trochaic octameter of Edgar Allan Poe’s «The Raven,» the stunning word choices of narrative nonfiction author Annie Dillard, or the experimental elements of the writings of Walter Abish.

English programs focus on literature, language, and writing, and an English major will encounter a wide array of absorbing works of fiction, poetry, and nonfiction from around the world and throughout history. Analyzing the works of the greatest minds and imaginations that human civilization has produced will surely sharpen your critical, emotional, creative, and moral faculties.

The study of literature also helps to shed some light on the answers to the enduring questions of the human condition.

This degree is tremendous preparation for a future in law, journalism, publishing, graduate studies, and just about anything. If you find yourself delving into why certain people react to certain aspects of their environments in a certain way, then studying psychology will help you learn about the biology of our brains. Psychology majors focus on such features of the human mind as learning, cognition, intelligence, motivation, emotion, perception, personality, mental disorders, and the ways in which our individual preferences are inherited from our parents or shaped by our environment.

Within the field, psychologists seek to educate, communicate, and resolve many of the problems surrounding human behavior. In the job market, this degree can set you up to be a therapist or counselor, obviously, but also a teacher, child development specialist, lawyer, or consultant, depending on the experiences and post-grad studies with which you complement your degree.

Compassionate individuals with a great mind for the intricate—and sometimes heartbreaking—world of medicine will be well—suited for a nursing career.

In the course of evaluating, diagnosing, and treating health problems there is also the chance to work with ever-evolving and ultra-sophisticated technology. Nursing majors take the traditional science and liberal arts courses as a first—year student and begin clinical rotations at hospitals and other health care facilities during the second semester of their sophomore year.

Certification exams are required after graduation from an accredited nursing program before you can be officially registered. And the job prospects for nurses are not only plentiful but also varied, available in fields such as geriatrics, neurology, oncology, obstetrics, and pediatrics. Chemical engineers harness chemical reactions to produce things people want. It’s a very broad field that overlaps considerably with other branches of engineeringchemistryand biochemistry.

Chemical engineering majors learn how to reorganize the structure of molecules and how to design chemical processes through which chemicals, petroleum, foods, and pharmaceuticals can undergo. You’ll learn how to build and operate industrial plants where raw materials are chemically altered. You’ll learn how to keep the environment safe from potential pollution and hazardous waste. Paper mills, manufacturers of fertilizers, pharmaceutical companies, plastics makers, and tons of other kinds of firms will be looking for your expertise.

From microscopic organisms to cloning procedures, biology encompasses pretty much the whole world. Biology majors can study human, plants, animals, and the environments in which they live, and studies are conducted at the cellular level, the ecosystem level, or anywhere in. You might find yourself looking to uncover secrets and for ways to solve problems, such as finding a cure for a disease.

Biology majors may find themselves in med school, or in one of many growing fields such as genetics and biotechnology or working as a veterinarian, optometrist, ecologist, or environmentalist. Get one-on-one help from former Ivy League and top tier admission officers. Our College Admission Counselors will help you find, apply, and get accepted to your dream school.

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Computer Science Not only will you learn more about computers—hardware and software—but you’ll also learn about the applications of such knowledge, such as how technology fits into a business scenario.

Communications Communications majors tend to be great storytellers with quick wits and fiery personalities. Book an Admissions Consultant. For Free.

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Top 10 College Majors That Lead to Good Careers

I found my online school there and I’m very satisfied. Can you guess what the top college majors to make money majors are i. When it comes to choosing a focus for college, it’s important to know which programs generally lead to stellar incomes. Sure, the best college majors are in fields that appeal to your interests and offer opportunities for growth. But what if you could have all that while also top college majors to make money an amazing paycheck? Even better, right? As you might expect, the majors that tend to pay the most come from the science, technology, engineeringand math STEM disciplines. In fact, 11 of the top 15 are engineering programs. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make a decent living in a non-STEM field. Above-average earnings can also be had in areas ranging from business and health care to agriculture and public service. The following lists of college majors as well as the median earnings for each major are based on a report from the Center on Education and the Workforce at Georgetown University. The report ranked different college majors by the median salaries of full-time workers with bachelor’s degrees. Use these lists to kick-start your career exploration and examine a range of rewarding options! If your goal is to maximize your earning potential, you’d be wise to consider a career in the high-demand areas of science, technology, engineeringand math. The Georgetown University report found that not only do STEM majors have the highest salaries, but they also enjoy the largest wage growth over their careers—on average, they make 50 percent more in the late stages of their careers than they do at the beginning. Here, then, are the top-paying majors overall:. The focus of petroleum engineering is on developing safe and efficient ways of locating and extracting underground reserves of oil and natural gas. Topics of study include geology, fluid mechanics, thermodynamics, and well drilling. Opportunities are available around the world in research labs, consulting firms, and energy companies. Learning to develop and test drugs and other medicines involves training in a range of sciences, including biology, chemistry, and toxicology.