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When undergraduate college students choose their majors, there can be several factors that go into their decisions.
But if maximizing one’s future earnings is high on their priority list, some areas of study have a better track record than others.
A New York Fed analysis of 2023 American Community Survey data found that college graduates who majored in one of 19 areas of study had a median mid-career wage of at least $100,000 a year. The New York Fed defined mid-career as people between the ages of 35 and 45. The analysis of 73 majors and groups of study only included people with a bachelor’s degree — no additional graduate school education — and used what’s noted as people’s first major.
One general area of study accounted for 10 of the 19 spots: engineering.
Aerospace engineering majors had the top median mid-career wage of $125,000, per the analysis. Three other engineering fields followed behind — computer, chemical, and electrical.
Jaison Abel, the head of microeconomics at the New York Fed, told Business Insider that engineering is a great example of the type of college major that has the quantitative skills businesses tend to want.
“There is a bit of a premium on the demand side, and also these are relatively challenging majors to get through,” Abel said. “When you’ve got quite a bit of demand for the skills and not as much supply of the types of people who are coming in, that’s going to make wages overall go up and be high.”
Computer science, economics, and finance were the three non-engineering majors with the highest mid-career median wages. Across all the majors analyzed, the median mid-career wage was $83,000 a year.
While the prospect of high mid-career earnings is likely attractive to many students, this appeal hinges on actually landing a job in their field of study — a feat that has become increasingly difficult for some college graduates.
A New York Fed analysis of unemployment data showed 5.8% of recent college graduates in the labor force between the ages of 22 and 27 were unemployed, up from 3.9% in October 2022. Absent the pandemic-related spike and its recovery over the next year, that’s the highest rate since 2013.
Student loans and the cost of college may affect how a degree is valued
As college tuition rates have risen in recent decades, many Americans have taken on a considerable amount of student debt. In 2024 dollars, the average price for tuition and fees at private nonprofit, four-year schools has increased 30% from the 2004-05 academic year to $43,350 for the 2024-25 academic year. Public, four-year in-state schools are much cheaper, but their average cost has also climbed during that timeframe. Housing and food expenses make the cost of school even higher.
The average American consumer with student loans had a debt balance of about $35,000 as of the third quarter of last year, per Experian data. That’s a decline from the average in the third quarter of 2023.
This changing landscape has caused some people to question whether college is a worthwhile investment. In response to these concerns, some high school graduates have gone straight to the workforce, while others have opted for alternative paths, like community college or trade schools.
Not all job openings require someone to have a particular level of education. However, sometimes a college degree is preferred for a job seeker. Automaker Stellantis said in a previous statement that “most non-bargaining unit positions (salaried) require an associate’s or bachelor’s degree,” but also noted that “for some positions, a degree might be a preferred qualification which would open those up to people who can demonstrate proficiency in other ways.”
College graduates who majored in early childhood education had the lowest median mid-career wage, at $49,000 a year. Other types of education majors had relatively low mid-career median wages, such as secondary education.
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