The five highest paying STEM majors, by mid-career average, were:
1. Petroleum engineering ($183,600)
2. Actuarial mathematics ($158,100)
3. Building science ($135,000)
4. System engineering ($131,200)
5. Chemical engineering ($126,900)
Mid-career average salaries (Source: OneClass)
Other STEM majors included computer science ($113,900), statistics ($111,300), software engineering ($109,600) and biotechnology ($94,700).
Business majors paid an average of 13% less than STEM majors, although there were some high-paying exceptions. The top five business majors were:
1. Business analytics ($129,800)
2. Actuarial science ($123,500)
3. Government ($109,900)
4. Construction project management ($106,200)
5. International economics ($105,900)
Mid-career average salaries (Source: OneClass)
Other business majors included international relations ($92,900), sales and marketing ($90,500), advertising ($86,400) and public relations and communications ($75,500).
Humanities graduates can expect lower average salaries, with only one major showing a mid-career average over $100,000. But it’s also probably true to say that few humanities students choose their major based on its earnings potential.
The top five paying humanities majors were:
1. Japanese language ($106,400)
2. European history ($94,600)
3. Politics ($93,600)
4. Advertising design ($89,900)
5. Industrial design ($89,800)
Mid-career average salaries (Source: OneClass)
Among other humanities majors were philosophy ($86,000), English literature ($78,300), history ($77,200) and music ($65,500).
Following Japanese majors as the highest paid foreign language graduates were German majors ($88,300), Italian ($87,500), French ($80,200), Chinese ($78,900) and Spanish ($70,100).