The website Payscale just published their 2013-2014 College Salary Report, which ranks colleges based on the salaries that students are able to obtain in the middle of their careers (at least 10 years of work experience). It also provides data on salaries earned directly after graduating from college. In addition, the survey used to gather the data asked, “Does your work make the world a better place?” The percentage of students who find their work meaningful responded with either “Very much so” or “Yes.”

The results are shown on two scatter plots (one for mid-career salaries and one for starting salaries). The data are more or less a blob, so I’ve also provided a heat map to summarize the median values from each category.

Though the data by no means reflect linear relationships, I’ve included best-fit trend lines to show that, if anything, there is a weak negative correlation between the variables. In other words, higher paying jobs correspond to less meaningful work. Perhaps this is not surprising, but what may be is that, as people move from starting their careers to the middle of their careers, the slopes of the lines become more negative; the relationship between high salary and less meaning strengthens with time. This inverse relationship is stronger for those who attended private schools than public schools.

One other noteworthy item: If you look at the heat map, there is only one group of schools where the median has fewer than half of their graduates doing meaningful work – private schools in the northeast. I find it a bit ironic (and perhaps sad) that this is where many of the most powerful schools in the world are located. Personally, I’m proud to say that I got my doctorate at one of those private northeast schools…I hope that doesn’t jinx me later in life!

Data source: http://www.payscale.com/college-salary-report-2014