Does Your Major Have One of the Highest Starting Salaries?

 

If you’re still trying to decide on a college major, you’re at a critical point in your life and choosing the right major can mean the difference between a lifetime of financial security or living in your parents’ basement. The unemployment rate may be dropping but it’s still pretty high for college graduates so choosing a major with a stable workforce is key. Michigan State University conducted a study on the subject and came up with a list of the 10 most profitable college majors for college graduates. [Photo: David Hecker/Getty]
Students with engineering degrees topped just about every list included with the study because they are in such high demands in the growing tech sector and they require a great deal of specialized training and experience but electrical engineering beat them all along with every other major with an average starting salary of $57,030. In fact, the top three highest paying majors were all based in engineering with computer engineering finishing second at $56,576 and mechanical engineering at $56,055.
Software design finished fourth with an average starting salary of $54,183 and computer programming rounded out the top five at $54,065. Other majors that made the top 10 highest starting salaries list included chemical engineering, computer science, civil engineering, mathematics and construction.
The study also found majors with the lowest starting salaries and you might be surprised to hear which one finished dead last: advertising. That might be because jobs in advertising are in such great demand and firms can afford to knock the starting salary price down by a few dollars when they hire someone. It’s a good thing that Mad Men set their series in the 1960s because Don Draper wouldn’t seem anywhere near as cool as he does now.