A long time ago someone started a rumor that says college graduates will make around $1,000,000 more over their lifetime than those who only earn a high school degree.

Ok, maybe it’s not entirely fair to call it a “rumor” because we’re sure there are some statistics behind it, but as Jamie Dimon recently reminded us, statistics can’t be trusted, and even if in this case they could, the fact that the average college graduate enters the job market saddled with nearly $30,000 in student loan debt and the fact that — as Moody’s recently noted on the way to putting some $3 billion in student loan-backed ABS on review for downgrade — unemployment rates are high among recent graduates, have led some observers to question whether a college degree is still as valuable as it once was. Throw in relentlessly rising tuitions rates (meaning degrees will become ever more expensive over time), and you have the beginnings of what may be a compelling case against the utility of higher education in America.

Fortunately, there are still some majors out there which promise to reward students with high paying, full-time work upon graduation. Here, courtesy of a study from Georgetown, are the best and worst areas to major in if you hope to survive once the student loan checks stop showing up in the mail.

(Note: the dots in the middle of the bars represent the median salaries for a given major)

If it’s money you’re after, you don’t want to be a social worker and probably not a psychologist either…

... and you definitely do not want to major in any of the liberal arts…

...or any other kind of arts for that matter…

...but you might want to consider being a doctor…

...or a finance executive…

...but if you really want to make some serious cash right out of college, you’ll help find oil…

...and if you really want to struggle, you'll teach children...

Here's a bit of color from the report:

STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics), health, and business majors are the highest paying, leading to average annual wages of $37,000 or more at the entry level and an average of $65,000 or more annually over the course of a recipient’s career. The 10 majors with the lowest median earnings are: early childhood education ($39,000); human services and community organization ($41,000); studio arts, social work, teacher education, and visual and performing arts ($42,000); theology and religious vocations, and elementary education ($43,000); drama and theater arts and family and community service ($45,000).

And a bit more from Bloomberg:

Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce analyzed Census Bureau data to determine the average wages for 137 college majors and found that students who focused on architecture and engineering come out on top, with a $50,000 starting salary. Within that group, those who studied the skills needed for oil jobs got paid best. People who majored in petroleum engineering made an average of $135,754 a year by their mid to late 20s—more than any other major. Then there are the jobs people do more for love than cash: Early childhood education majors pulled in the least, making an average of $39,097 a year. While that's still a significant bump over high school graduates, who typically pull in $22,000 a year, it's a drastic cut of what STEM and business majors reported making a couple years out of college. "A college major isn't destiny," said Anthony Carnevale, director of the Center and the report's lead author. But it does appear to be a more significant factor than some college counselors and brochures might suggest. "For today's high school graduates, and an increasing share of middle-aged adults who are pursuing a bachelor's degree, the decision about what to major in will have critical economic consequences for the rest of their lives," Carnevale said.

To summarize: drilling for oil is important, educating America's youth ... not so much.

WIW2-FullReport