24/7 Wall St. Insights
- The best college degrees offer continuous salary increases.
- Engineering degrees are unsurprisingly the best ROI.
- Advanced degrees like medicine and law also offer a strong return on investment.
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High schoolers getting ready to leap to college face a major decision. As this decision helps determine the course of their careers, it is very important to understand which college degrees offer the best return on your investment. While high-earning degrees change yearly, some staple options can be counted on as your best ticket toward a lucrative career, according to Payscale.com and Salary.com.
10. Marketing Degree
- Average starting salary: $64,285
- Average mid-career salary: $111,900
A Marketing Degree can be generalized, but it also allows you to wear several hats. It’s a highly competitive field that includes digital marketing, social media marketing, e-commerce, etc., with far more candidates than open jobs.
9. Accounting Degree
- Average starting salary: $67,382
- Average mid-career salary: $108,300
With an Accounting Degree, you can become a CPA or a tax accountant, both of which can be lucrative careers with solid returns. Even though consulting is possible with an accounting degree, consulting is vastly more competitive and challenging to get hired for.
8. Economics Degree
- Average starting salary: $68,506
- Average mid-career salary: $134,200
Economics is a social science that combines math, analysis, and business strategy. A degree in economics can help you find work as a financial analyst, management consultant, or even a teacher,, but it’s a very competitive field with many job candidates.
7. Finance Degree
- Average starting salary: $69,865
- Average mid-career salary: $122,000
While Finance may encompass various degrees, a general Finance major ensures you will contribute to an organization and help them manage their books more effectively. Very much a competitive degree, finance offers a lot of job and growth opportunities.
6. Actuarial Science
- Average starting salary: $74,589
- Average mid-career salary: $150,000
With an Actuarial Science degree, you’ll be someone in a business who helps other businesses manage risk and make strategic decisions about the future. It’s a competitive, albeit niche, degree, and lots of candidates are going out for the same roles.
5. Aerospace Engineering
- Average starting salary: $75,779
- Average mid-career salary: $141,800
An Aerospace Engineering degree offers students the knowledge to test and manufacture various aircraft and space-related systems. You’ll work hard to find work in super competitive fields like aviation, space exploration, and defense industries.
4. Electrical Engineering
- Average starting salary: $75,779
- Average mid-career salary: $192,300
Anyone with an Electrical Engineering degree has a unique understanding of how to work in various fields. This competitive degree is ideal for someone with strong mathematical skills, as it covers aerospace, electrical power, automobiles, robotics, and communications.
3. Chemical Engineering
- Average starting salary: $78,679
- Average mid-career salary: $156,100
Getting a degree in Chemical Engineering ensures that you understand safety in work environments and sustainability products and know how to research various fields like biotechnology and life sciences. It’s a very competitive field that still offers good job prospects.
2. Computer Science
- Average starting salary: $83,109
- Average mid-career salary: $154,100
Of all the college degrees available today, Computer Science provides the best return on investment. This degree has long been considered one of the highest-earning, offers strong growth, and is a role companies regularly look to fill.
1. Petroleum Engineering
- Average starting salary: $103,160
- Average mid-career salary: $212,100
Arguably, the four-year college degree that offers the best ROI is in Petroleum Engineering. A unique trade, this field extracts gases, oil, and other natural resources from the Earth. It’s one of the most competitive jobs today but also still a growing field.
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