College majors with the highest starting salaries

I see "accountant" there as a major but not near the highest paid jobs---at least not starting out.  So, that was my major 30 yrs ago and it wasn't real great pay then either, but jobs were easy to get.  Today, I make about $750,000 a year in salary.  And another $150k to $250k in dividends and capital gains annually  just investing the cash and stocks I've accumulated.  I started a business  a few yrs out of college and here I am.  Only 10 employees, but its decently profitable.  I didn't pick a major I loved.  I never "loved" accounting, but I've never hated it either.  I picked it because I grew up poor and didn't want a go nowhere major.  For those of you who went the route I did, take comfort knowing you can change your status in life and your major doesn't always have a lot to do with that.  With the path I took, accounting, business, sales would all have been good majors.  So, am I happy in life now?  Yes.  Money isn't a worry anymore.  That's a big stress reliever.  Now, I only work because I want to, not because I have to.  Big difference. 

@Rural Woman - every school district in IN has their own pay scale for teachers, so saying the entire state is no longer paying teachers for having a masters is just wrong. I live in IN and I know Indy public schools are talking about having a merit based raise system, but other school, such as Fisher, Carmel, Zionsville, etc. - all still have pay increases for masters and are not giving raises based student performance.  Most schools have a top of pay scale as 20 years and a masters plus 30. 

Do something you love, and you'll never work a day in your life.

Gee.  I don't see any of the courses like literature, art history, psychology, library science, various "victim-studies", and the "underwater basket-weaving" types listed here.  Maybe not a good idea to go into debt in a field where you can't make a living.

Where did this gal get her data.  Last time I checked, Petroleum Engineers were still at the top of the list!  Chemical Engineers weren't too far behind...

i just put a kid to work right out of a 2 year AA degree program making $60k a year. and it only cost him about $9K in tuition books and room and board.   

I forgot to mention the best part of my career choice,I am self employed,have my own business,so I work when I want, when I don't want to work,when I want time off,I just don't book any clients,no paper work trying to get some days off, or the possibilty of looseing my job because of days missed...i love it !I can make as little o as much money as I want. but when you are self employed you have to be disiplined. The buck stops with me.If I don't work, I don't eat and you have to be good at what you do. You have to sale yourself, your skills.and FYI I'm confortable.i love my work, I love my life.and there are so many different types of nurses!

Most universities these days, mainly hire professors from other countries. If you are trying to become a professor at an American college, and you were born in the USA, you need to consider that you may not have a very good chance of getting a professor job. That is sad, but its the truth.

I was a Political Science major graduate, and found a job right out of college with the government. I might not be making the most money in the world, but I'm so happy with my career- the pay is merely a bonus. No matter what the salary, people should do what they love. They will be better at it- thus more sucessful in the long run. I'm glad to see Poli Sci getting on a list like this- while it might not be the way to get rich, it opens so many doors right out of college!

hey people let's cool the tangent on CNA's and Registered Nurses. this started with Doc4u's comment, CRNA's make $23 to $55 per hr, which is correct. note:CRNA which is the acronym

for Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist,  which is a very different position and educational skill level of a CNA, Certified Nurse Assistant. Now having said that CNA's work very hard for little money, which is very sad. I've worked in the Legal Profession where the para legals and secretaries do all the reasearch and work,have all the knowledge, but the Attorney gets all the cash and glory, same is true of the Medical Professtion, Nurses,and CNA's really know and care for the patients (i'm a nurse) and doctors who can be good awful really get paid alot!. that's why Doc4u spoke about advanced degrees in Nursing.Actually Doc4u is PHD Nurse..I love it. Personaly i'm a traveling nurse great money, not all the drama of working in a hospital (office politics) and the people you are helping are so glad you are there! and I a make btw $25 to $50

per hour., two years of school an 15 years of expeience.One last thing 15 years ago I took home

$1750 per week, I take home much more now.

Actually, I think that Business is overrated...granted its a good major, but EVERYONE in college is a business major...A good career move Criminal Justice...you can go along way with CJ...City Police, State Police, Federal, you can go to law school...and sadly but true...we will always have crime..thats a promising career

Higher education is valuable depending on what job hold your interest. Success really depends on the desire to succeed, that takes hard work, yes a four letter word, enjoyment in the job, and education of some kind be it university, votech or on the job.

look guys going to college sounds great but it is not for everybody,  if you really want to make it in the real world you are going to have to put in the time and effort in whatever you do, be it college or entering the work force with no higher education, for example myself,  I decided not to go to college and enter the work force head first. I started this job I have now in 2006 and when I started this job I see I earned more money then, than the highest paying job listed on this article, I earned more by at least 15k more, that was on my first year, of coarse I put in alot of overtime and not mention blood, sweat and a couple of tears when no one was looking, I guess what I am saying is you can make it with college or no college, all it takes is some good old fashion elbow grease something I feel this country has forgoten, now I make almost tripple of what I started and only work six months out of the year and to top it off I get to see the world on the companie's dime I work for. God I love my life!! And thank you God for the oilfield!!! 

Funny to hear people talking of the medical field-- so many layoffs, consolidations, job meshings, takeovers. The best way to REALLY make money is to work for yourself at something you love. Absolutely. Dependent on no one but yourself. Once again, these flimsy reports such as the one on this page are really nothing more than a few pixels of info. 20 years ago a MAJOR report came out that those entering the job market as professors had it made due to retirements by profs and so many more people going to college. The report did not recognize that at that very moment colleges were switching to adjuncts, 90% timers and other such pools of people to save huge amounts of $$$$. Today, you have a Ph.D. and are full time employed with benefits, you are VERY fortunate. 

How about pre-med, then  Med school ...these majors above wouldnt even show up in the petty cash account       

Surprise of surprises? Get your PHD in expectation of teaching of the college level with years of education with high grades and find that you have a 1 in 35 chance of getting a job. Why should universities pay profs when they can pay grad students very little to teach classes or hire an adjunct prof for $2500 per class (limited to 2 classes per semester) per semester? Try living off that? And we expect to have quality educators on the university level?

I am a OTA and I started out at 52K right out of the box

Your son will work very hard in the oil industry and get paid very well! My son was in OKC for 4 months of training, the off to the oil sands where he earned $30K a month. Tell your son take every opportunity to advance even if it means tough working conditions and long hours. I think we'll be burning oil for at least 3 more generations....

Where are you guys getting these numbers from? All of these jobs start off in the $30ks after graduating from college. 

I never understood why Americans think business degrees are the most steady route to go. If you're looking for a stable and high-paying career, almost anything in medical field is basically where the money is at.

That's nice see those colelge grads with those high starting salaries.  I think Ms Auerbach is leaving out a group workers that made everything happen for those college grads, like the matinance workers who keep their A/C on in their office to keep the cool,  the elavator mechanic to make sure they can get to office instead of walking up 50 flights of stairs, or how about the auto tech to make their car works properly.  The sad part is most of the "skill trades people" are in their late 50's and mid 60s and ready to call quits. The sad part is no one wants to learn these trades

when i came out of culinary school 5 yrs ago my salary was 42k give it i had a few yrs expierence, now im making 53k, which is decent for me but i really do love my profession so thats worth alot more than money. 

The success of any individual depends on a combination of academic knowledge, character, self-confidence, work ethics and unwavering determination to succeed. Working hard alone won't strike gold, otherwise "the mule" would be either the smartest animal and the king of the jungle.

Who ever wrote this needs to be fired for doing such a poor job.  Highest paying in the engineering field is Petroleum Engineering.

while computer science is one of the top highest paying major, once you graduated you're gonna have to compete with millions of others to land a job at a big IT company. Think twice before taking this major.

And they keep telling us "teachers" are underpaid!