New study shows income is closely tied to choice of major. Your barista agrees.

[holymadness]

StephenHero thinks that the only degree allowed should be a bachelor's of making money.

 

[imschatz]

Originally Posted by KPO89

Your career is like marrying for love or money...

Love: education, journalism, etc.

Money: Law, Comp Sci, could argue business

I would assume there is a dramatic inflation of these numbers now that college education is so cheap and practically attainable by all.
Not true .. If you don't love computer coding, good luck completing a degree in CS. I thought I loved it - got through 4-5 courses and changed majors. Turns out I can only tolerate small amounts of computer programming if the end goal is extremely clear (statistical software for example).

Law and Business .. ya, pretty sure those that love Law/Business are out numbered 20:1 by those that just do it for the money.

 

[imschatz]

Originally Posted by otc

I'd rather see lifetime earnings figures (with school costs subtracted)--some professions have very different salary ramps (especially if you spend a bunch of time getting a phd, doing a post doc, and turn 33 before you start earning more than a stipend).

Also why no econ? It is definitely not the same thing as business and it would be a shame to include it in "social sciences"

Ya .. sort of sad they keep throwing Economics in with the "Social Sciences" .. Earning potential of a Economics grad should be significantly higher then a Sociology or Poli-Sci student.

 

[StephenHero]

Originally Posted by holymadness

StephenHero thinks that the only degree allowed should be a bachelor's of self-sufficiency.
fyp

 

[vaalbara]

Fields with virtually no unemployment: geological and geophysical engineering

 

[Jr Mouse]

Originally Posted by holymadness

Well, clinical psychology is an actual medical profession (with attendant wages) and requires a medical degree.

But yeah, taking a 4-year psych degree and then stopping is not the best way to have a lucrative career. On the other hand, I know a lot of people working in journalism or education who love their jobs and pity corporate lawyers and financial managers who work 80 hours a week and have no life, vacation, or hobbies.

Agreed. Money is important, but it's not everything to everyone. If you are passionate about a career field that does not pay that well, you may choose to give up a higher potential salary for it. There is nothing wrong with that at all, if you know what you are getting into.

 

[otc]

Originally Posted by JMRouse

Agreed. Money is important, but it's not everything to everyone. If you are passionate about a career field that does not pay that well, you may choose to give up a higher potential salary for it. There is nothing wrong with that at all, if you know what you are getting into.

Just like not everybody is willing to do what at least a few members on here do and work in petroleum where you run a several weeks on, several weeks off schedule in some god forsaken place in exchange for a bunch of money.

I think I would like it for several years. I'm not someone who needs to see my friends in person daily or something, and as long as the work location and other staff were reasonably consistent (not a new city every week or something) where I could have a stable life in both places...
Basically gives you long chunks of time to do stuff other people can't do (and money to do so)...who is that member that decided to buy a ducati, had a friend in CA buy it, picked it up, and drove it cross country to new york with several unplanned stays in the middle? Sounds good to me

 

[Pantisocrat]

Originally Posted by KPO89

Your career is like marrying for love or money... Love: education, journalism, etc. Money: Law, Comp Sci, could argue business I would assume there is a dramatic inflation of these numbers now that college education is so cheap and practically attainable by all.

 

[arirang]

Originally Posted by bringusingoodale

I'd like to see one of these analysis compare what a tradesman makes. I know people who never went to college and learned HVAC, worked second jobs and made savvy investments and are now worth way more than any one I know who holds a bachelor's.

+1

The wealthiest person in my family never went to college... he scrimped for 10 years to build a small automotive repair shop. Since then he has built numerous other repair shops around town that he rents out to other guys.

People have been putting college on a pedestal for all those years when it appears that the tide has turned. A smart person with a skilled trade could probably live quite well working for someone else, or become wealthy by starting their own business.

If I were 16 again, I'd probably make some very different choices.

 

[Samovar McGee]

Yeah, well, I went to school for Creative Writing. Graduated in 2008. Fast forward a couple years later, and now I'm working as an accountant. I'm of the opinion that it doesn't matter what degree you earned. If you can't sell it to someone, you're eating it.

 

[BlackToothedGrin]

Why do they say journalism is the most useless major when their data show communications and journalism median income is only $3,000 less than engineering? The data support dogging psychology, but not journalism.

Also, they're using median salary for this which will not be affected by the top few percent in each field earning lots of money since it's the median not the mean.

 

[KitAkira]

Originally Posted by Matt

hard call to make. An undergrad psych degree is nigh-on-worthless. Cute, and interesting, but then so are puppies and no one spends four years studying those. Still, if you pursue psych beyond undergrad to your doctorate and then into research/clinical work, then I suppose there is still money to be made. This study assumes you do undergrad and then start sending the CV out...in which case, you don't have much to show for yourself.
Yeah, can't imagine having much use for a Psych Bachelor's except to say you're a college grad.

Originally Posted by holymadness

Well, clinical psychology is an actual medical profession (with attendant wages) and requires a medical degree.
Are you sure about this? Granted, I never wanted to go into clinical psych so never really did much delving into it, but this sounds more like Psychiatry (MD) than Psychology (which, as far as I know, are PhDs or PsyDs). Clinical Psychology would be more along the lines of a professional counselor

Originally Posted by munchausen

Didn't read all of that, but are they factoring out anyone with advanced degrees and professional degrees? Because that would really skew, say, biology's average considering that a good percentage of them go into medicine and (I would assume) most people who do well in undergrad biology would continue on into graduate programs. What does one do with an undergrad degree in biology? Not a rhetorical question, I actually don't know.
Research assistant/lab tech or teaching, one would presume

Originally Posted by Gibonius

I don't think that they are excluding people who go on to do advanced degrees, at least judging from the numbers for chemistry. This study shows a $55k average for chemists, but the American Chemical Society says that a BS in Chemistry only averages $40k. To get up to 55k, seems like graduate degree earners would have to be included.
Qualified PhDs in Chem start at around $75k in research fields (for the big guns, anyway)

 

[Lord-Barrington]

I once came across a study which stated that 75K was the sweet-spot salary where you made enough to live comfortably but were probably working a 40 hour week with limited work travel and pressure. As bad as a 32K mid-career salary sounds, the vast majority of people making 200K are earning that money working in pretty difficult/depressing/stressful careers. Corporate lawyers and bankers come to mind.

That doesn't mean everyone make 75K is happy and everyone making 200K+, but there's definitely a cut-off where you start earning your money at the cost of everything else in your life.

 

[yeungjai]

Originally Posted by Lord-Barrington

I once came across a study which stated that 75K was the sweet-spot salary where you made enough to live comfortably but were probably working a 40 hour week with limited work travel and pressure. As bad as a 32K mid-career salary sounds, the vast majority of people making 200K are earning that money working in pretty difficult/depressing/stressful careers. Corporate lawyers and bankers come to mind.

That doesn't mean everyone make 75K is happy and everyone making 200K+, but there's definitely a cut-off where you start earning your money at the cost of everything else in your life.

I've read a similar study, but I recall the details a little differently. They said that around $70,000 (this was in Canada I believe....wouldn't suppose it to translate to other places with different COLAs), you can basically buy things here and there that you want, eat out, and take a yearly vacation. Past that, you start seeing diminishing returns/tradeoffs - e.g. more stress for less marginal enjoyment. Instead of Banana Republic, you might be buying Zegna instead.

Of course, it was a fairly generalized study. Outside of the SF crowd, most people probably aren't hurting enough for $300 jeans and $3000 suits to stress themselves out for it.

 

[Gibonius]

Originally Posted by KitAkira

Qualified PhDs in Chem start at around $75k in research fields (for the big guns, anyway)

Hell, my wife is getting 65k as a postdoc. I'm trying to transfer from teaching to industry, see where I end up salary-wise.