Posts Tagged ‘best college majors’

13 of the Best Paying Majors

Choosing a major is a big deal and a hard choice. Most students don’t have the ease of going into college knowing exactly what they want to be doing the next forty years of their lives–those that do are rock stars of decision making, though!

If you don’t know exactly what you want to study in college, it may be helpful to think about majors that lead to lucrative careers. The Daily Beast recently published an article about the most useful college majors based on research from Georgetown University that charted two years of census data to determine the likelihood of positive financial returns in relation to college majors in conjunction with data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics about employment projections.

Still, choosing a major based on future monetary prospects isn’t the only factor that should go into your decision. Being able to head to class excited about what you’re learning is worth its weight in gold. So, hopefully financial success and passion with what your studying wind up going hand in hand. But in a rough economy, knowing you’ll have job stability might just be worth it for you.

Here are thirteen of the most useful college majors:

1. Nursing

Unemployment, recent grad: 4.0%
Unemployment, experienced grad: 1.9%
Earnings, recent grad: $48,000
Earnings, experienced grad: $64,000

2. Mechanical Engineer

Unemployment, recent grad: 8.6%
Unemployment, experienced grad: 3.8%
Earnings, recent grad: $58,000
Earnings, experienced grad: $86,000

3. Electrical Engineering

Unemployment, recent grad: 7.3%
Unemployment, experienced grad: 5.2%
Earnings, recent grad: $57,000
Earnings, experienced grad: $90,000

4. Civil Engineering

Unemployment, recent grad: 8.1%
Unemployment, experienced grad: 4.5%
Earnings, recent grad: $50,000
Earnings, experienced grad: $81,000

5. Computer Science

Unemployment, recent grad: 7.8%
Unemployment, experienced grad: 5.6%
Earnings, recent grad: $50,000
Earnings, experienced grad: $81,000

6. Finance

Unemployment, recent grad: 6.6%
Unemployment, experienced grad: 5.2%
Earnings, recent grad: $44,000
Earnings, experienced grad: $72,000

7. Marketing & Research

Unemployment, recent grad: 7.3%
Unemployment, experienced grad: 6.0%
Earnings, recent grad: $37,000
Earnings, experienced grad: $65,000

8. Mathematics

Unemployment, recent grad: 6.1%
Unemployment, experienced grad: 5.1%
Earnings, recent grad: $40,000
Earnings, experienced grad: $71,000

9. Accounting

Unemployment, recent grad: 6.8%
Unemployment, experienced grad: 4.8%
Earnings, recent grad: $43,000
Earnings, experienced grad: $65,000

10. French, German, Latin, and other Common Foreign Languages 

Unemployment, recent grad: 7.9%
Unemployment, experienced grad: 4.8%
Earnings, recent grad: $32,000
Earnings, experienced grad: $50,000

 11. Business

Unemployment, recent grad: 7.0%
Unemployment, experienced grad: 4.8%
Earnings, recent grad: $37,000
Earnings, experienced grad: $60,000

12. Elementary Education

Unemployment, recent grad: 4.8%
Unemployment, experienced grad: 3.4%
Earnings, recent grad: $33,000
Earnings, experienced grad: $40,000

13. Economics

Unemployment, recent grad: 9.4%
Unemployment, experienced grad: 5.7%
Earnings, recent grad: $48,000
Earnings, experienced grad: $76,000

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Friday College Town Hall

In Friday College Town Hall, we post a question about college, and you leave an answer in the comment field.

Today’s question:

The Wall Street Journal created an interactive online tool, using the 2010 Census data, that shows students’ career prospects in regards to their majors.

Certain college majors have higher unemployment rates than others:

Architecture – 10.6%
Linguistics & comparative literature – 8.5%
Commercial art & graphic designs – 8.1%
Drama & theater arts – 7.1%
Journalism – 7.0%
Computer engineering – 7.0%

And some are lower than most:

Medical technology technician – 1.4%
Nursing – 2.2%
Treatment therapy professions – 2.6%
Pharmacy – 3.2%
Elementary education – 3.6%
High school teacher –  3.8%
Finance – 4.5%
Physics – 4.5%

Do these numbers affect what you will be studying? Have you changed what you are studying in light of the economy or are you following your dreams?

Have a thought or an answer? Leave a reply below.

We’ve also asked our @Cappex Twitter followers to chime in! Here’s what people are saying on Twitter:

Friday College Town Hall


In Friday College Town Hall, we post a question about college, and you leave an answer in the comment field. Today’s question:

Between 30-40% of incoming college freshmen are undecided on a major when they enter college. It’s also estimated that between 75-80% of students change their majors during their college careers.

Is it good to be open minded about your studies or does jumping around majors hurt you in the process?

Leave your answer in the comments below or tweet at  @Cappex to chime in (we’ll post your answer below)!

Which College Degrees Will Get You A College Graduate Job?

Times are tough and getting a job is even tougher.

Does having a college degree give you a better chance of getting a job?

Yes.

But, according to Course Hero’s recent blog post, graduates with certain majors are more likely to land a job than others.  You can see from Course Hero how folks with undergraduate degrees are less exposed to unemployment here:

2010_unemployment_jobs.JPG

So, now you ask, “What should I major in so that I can get a job after college?”

We’re not going to tell you what you should do.  After all, you should follow a path that interests you, but, if any of these careers fits your interest, you’re in luck.  These careers are going through a growth spurt like a 13-year-old boy:

Registered nurses

Accountants and auditors

Post-secondary teachers

Elementary teachers

Computer software engineers

Network systems and data communications analysts

Dental hygienists

Medical scientists

Physicians assistants

Veterinary technologists and technicians

Veterinarians

Skin care specialists

Biomedical engineers

Financial examiners

Biochemists and biophysicists

Athletic trainers

If studying to become a registered nurse, accountant or one of these other jobs means less a chance for unemployment, would you do it?

And if you need some advice on choosing your career, check out some of Cappex’s words of wisdom on the subject here!