College majors have a big impact on income. Here are the highest- and lowest-earning fields.
CBSN
Getting a college degree is a financial commitment with a big impact on future earnings. New research finds that a student's major, along with their alma mater, can make a huge difference in their average salary four years after graduating.
The college majors that lead to top-paying jobs tend to be focused in so-called STEM fields, or science, technology, engineering and mathematics, according to a new analysis from the HEA Group. Founded by Michael Itzkowitz, the former director of the Department of Education's College Scorecard, HEA provides data on college costs and other topics.
The top-paying majors aren't the most popular fields with students, Itzkowitz's research found. Those belong to business administration, nursing and psychology, where grads can earn respectable incomes four years after college, at about $58,000, $77,000 and $43,000 respectively. Even the much-maligned English degree pulls in a larger number of students than computer science, a field where grads earn more than double the typical $42,000 annual salary of Shakespeare aficionados, the analysis found.
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