Highest Paying College Majors For 2019

At the very top of the list is petroleum engineering, yielding a base salary of nearly $100,000 for recent graduates. The oil and gas industry is a hot one as companies around the world seek new petroleum resources and how to mine and use them as efficiently as possible and petroleum engineers provide the know-how when it comes to geology, drilling and other fields to accomplish this.

Chemical and electrical engineering jobs are next, earning recent graduates base salaries around $61,000, which grow to over $100,000 at mid-career. Graduates in these disciplines can find employment in a wide variety of fields, from developing and improving consumer products like laundry detergent and cosmetics to designing automated production systems for factories.

Aerospace engineering is another field that has generally commanded good salaries for graduates, though a severe cut in funding of the federal space program in the U.S. will likely have a large negative impact on job prospects in this field. However, there are other organizations that require the expertise and knowledge of aerospace engineers to build and refine all types of aircraft for consumer, commercial, and military use. Majors in this difficult discipline can expect to earn just over $60,000 to start and surpass $100,000 per year at mid-career.

Given the prominence of computers, cell phones and other electronic devices in so many jobs and everyday use at home, the software and peripherals needed for them are extremely important as well. This is where computer engineering and computer science majors come in, developing the software and firmware that drive electronic devices and computers as well as the hardware, peripherals and accessories that interface with them. Majors in these fields can expect to earn around $60,000 after completing an undergraduate degree, which will grow close to $100,000 at mid-career.

Note that computer engineering and computer science are different from information technology and information systems majors. The fields of information technology and information systems deal primarily with the application of computer systems in businesses, from systems that manage automated production lines to the email and other communication and management systems used within a company. These fields, while still challenging, don't require the same type of knowledge and expertise as computer engineering and computer science majors and their starting salaries are around $48,000.

At the top of the earnings list when it comes to math-related fields is applied mathematics, with graduates earning over $50,000 when starting out and pulling in close to $100,000 at mid-career. Applied mathematicians can work in several fields building mathematical models to solve business problems or predict behavior or the results of systems and processes.

Statistics is another field where college graduates have the earning potential to stay in the black with starting salaries around $50,000 for recent graduates and in the low-$90,000s at mid-career. Statisticians focus on the collection, organization, and analysis of data and can work in a variety of industries from pharmaceutical to insurance companies and many others. This major also requires strong computer knowledge and skills since the data analysis is primarily completed using complex computer programs.

If you'd rather use your math skills to manage money, a major in finance may be right up your alley and will put you on track to earn around $46,000 per year after graduation and up to nearly $90,000 at mid-career. Finance majors go on to work in financial institutions, government agencies and companies in every industry to analyze and report on assets and liabilities.

First up is fashion design, a field that requires a bit more than the ability to put together a well-coordinated outfit. Fashion and its trends can be an indirect gauge of what's going on in cultures and societies around the world. It takes a unique eye to identify these trends and the business sense to capitalize on them to make a successful fashion designer. Upon graduation, starting salaries aren't stunning off the bat (around $35,000) but this salary can double by mid-career.

Many people lament the generic-sounding English degree and it's often stereotyped as a major that doesn't do a good job of preparing graduates for a real job. While most stereotypes have a grain of truth to them, they're never entirely accurate. English majors can study literature and other types of writing from cultures around the world in multiple eras and build strong writing skills along the way as well. These abilities can easily translate to jobs in journalism, publishing, and other areas where writing or the evaluation of written material is key and can earn graduates under $40,000 shortly after graduation and over $65,000 per year at mid-career.