Salary Increase By Major



More data: Salaries for Colleges by Type | Related article: Ivy Leaguers' Big Edge: Starting Pay Your parents might have worried when you chose Philosophy or International Relations as a major. But a year-long survey of 1.2 million people with only a bachelor's degree by PayScale Inc. shows that graduates in these subjects earned 103.5% and 97.8% more, respectively, about 10 years post-commencement. Majors that didn't show as much salary growth include Nursing and Information Technology. Salaries for Colleges by Region | Degrees That Pay You Back || Undergraduate Major Starting Median Salary Mid-Career Median Salary Percent change from Starting to Mid-Career Salary Mid-Career 10th Percentile Salary Mid-Career 25th Percentile Salary Mid-Career 75th Percentile Salary Mid-Career 90th Percentile Salary Accounting $46,000.00 $77,100.00 67.6 $42,200.00 $56,100.00 $108,000.00 $152,000.00 Aerospace Engineering $57,700.00 $101,000.00 75.0 $64,300.00 $82,100.00 $127,000.00 $161,000.00 Agriculture $42,600.00 $71,900.00 68.8 $36,300.00 $52,100.00 $96,300.00 $150,000.00 Anthropology $36,800.00 $61,500.00 67.1 $33,800.00 $45,500.00 $89,300.00 $138,000.00 Architecture $41,600.00 $76,800.00 84.6 $50,600.00 $62,200.00 $97,000.00 $136,000.00 Art History $35,800.00 $64,900.00 81.3 $28,800.00 $42,200.00 $87,400.00 $125,000.00 Biology $38,800.00 $64,800.00 67.0 $36,900.00 $47,400.00 $94,500.00 $135,000.00 Business Management $43,000.00 $72,100.00 67.7 $38,800.00 $51,500.00 $102,000.00 $147,000.00 Chemical Engineering $63,200.00 $107,000.00 69.3 $71,900.00 $87,300.00 $143,000.00 $194,000.00 Chemistry $42,600.00 $79,900.00 87.6 $45,300.00 $60,700.00 $108,000.00 $148,000.00 Civil Engineering $53,900.00 $90,500.00 67.9 $63,400.00 $75,100.00 $115,000.00 $148,000.00 Communications $38,100.00 $70,000.00 83.7 $37,500.00 $49,700.00 $98,800.00 $143,000.00 Computer Engineering $61,400.00 $105,000.00 71.0 $66,100.00 $84,100.00 $135,000.00 $162,000.00 Computer Science $55,900.00 $95,500.00 70.8 $56,000.00 $74,900.00 $122,000.00 $154,000.00 Construction $53,700.00 $88,900.00 65.5 $56,300.00 $68,100.00 $118,000.00 $171,000.00 Criminal Justice $35,000.00 $56,300.00 60.9 $32,200.00 $41,600.00 $80,700.00 $107,000.00 Drama $35,900.00 $56,900.00 58.5 $36,700.00 $41,300.00 $79,100.00 $153,000.00 Economics $50,100.00 $98,600.00 96.8 $50,600.00 $70,600.00 $145,000.00 $210,000.00 Education $34,900.00 $52,000.00 49.0 $29,300.00 $37,900.00 $73,400.00 $102,000.00 Electrical Engineering $60,900.00 $103,000.00 69.1 $69,300.00 $83,800.00 $130,000.00 $168,000.00 English $38,000.00 $64,700.00 70.3 $33,400.00 $44,800.00 $93,200.00 $133,000.00 Film $37,900.00 $68,500.00 80.7 $33,900.00 $45,500.00 $100,000.00 $136,000.00 Finance $47,900.00 $88,300.00 84.3 $47,200.00 $62,100.00 $128,000.00 $195,000.00 Forestry $39,100.00 $62,600.00 60.1 $41,000.00 $49,300.00 $78,200.00 $111,000.00 Geography $41,200.00 $65,500.00 59.0 $40,000.00 $50,000.00 $90,800.00 $132,000.00 Geology $43,500.00 $79,500.00 82.8 $45,000.00 $59,600.00 $101,000.00 $156,000.00 Graphic Design $35,700.00 $59,800.00 67.5 $36,000.00 $45,500.00 $80,800.00 $112,000.00 Health Care Administration $38,800.00 $60,600.00 56.2 $34,600.00 $45,600.00 $78,800.00 $101,000.00 History $39,200.00 $71,000.00 81.1 $37,000.00 $49,200.00 $103,000.00 $149,000.00 Hospitality & Tourism $37,800.00 $57,500.00 52.1 $35,500.00 $43,600.00 $81,900.00 $124,000.00 Industrial Engineering $57,700.00 $94,700.00 64.1 $57,100.00 $72,300.00 $132,000.00 $173,000.00 Information Technology (IT) $49,100.00 $74,800.00 52.3 $44,500.00 $56,700.00 $96,700.00 $129,000.00 Interior Design $36,100.00 $53,200.00 47.4 $35,700.00 $42,600.00 $72,500.00 $107,000.00 International Relations $40,900.00 $80,900.00 97.8 $38,200.00 $56,000.00 $111,000.00 $157,000.00 Journalism $35,600.00 $66,700.00 87.4 $38,400.00 $48,300.00 $97,700.00 $145,000.00 Management Information Systems (MIS) $49,200.00 $82,300.00 67.3 $45,300.00 $60,500.00 $108,000.00 $146,000.00 Marketing $40,800.00 $79,600.00 95.1 $42,100.00 $55,600.00 $119,000.00 $175,000.00 Math $45,400.00 $92,400.00 103.5 $45,200.00 $64,200.00 $128,000.00 $183,000.00 Mechanical Engineering $57,900.00 $93,600.00 61.7 $63,700.00 $76,200.00 $120,000.00 $163,000.00 Music $35,900.00 $55,000.00 53.2 $26,700.00 $40,200.00 $88,000.00 $134,000.00 Nursing $54,200.00 $67,000.00 23.6 $47,600.00 $56,400.00 $80,900.00 $98,300.00 Nutrition $39,900.00 $55,300.00 38.6 $33,900.00 $44,500.00 $70,500.00 $99,200.00 Philosophy $39,900.00 $81,200.00 103.5 $35,500.00 $52,800.00 $127,000.00 $168,000.00 Physician Assistant $74,300.00 $91,700.00 23.4 $66,400.00 $75,200.00 $108,000.00 $124,000.00 Physics $50,300.00 $97,300.00 93.4 $56,000.00 $74,200.00 $132,000.00 $178,000.00 Political Science $40,800.00 $78,200.00 91.7 $41,200.00 $55,300.00 $114,000.00 $168,000.00 Psychology $35,900.00 $60,400.00 68.2 $31,600.00 $42,100.00 $87,500.00 $127,000.00 Religion $34,100.00 $52,000.00 52.5 $29,700.00 $36,500.00 $70,900.00 $96,400.00 Sociology $36,500.00 $58,200.00 59.5 $30,700.00 $40,400.00 $81,200.00 $118,000.00 Spanish $34,000.00 $53,100.00 56.2 $31,000.00 $40,000.00 $76,800.00 $96,400.00 Source: PayScale Inc.

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