Most Lucrative College Degrees

in Careers Education by AdamS — May 7, 2007 at 12:07 pm | 0 comments

Right now, many college graduates are in the process of exchanging their caps and gowns for "business casual" and their diplomas for paychecks. The question is: what is the exchange rate?

Recently, CNNMoney.com published an article on precisely that topic, entitled, "Most Lucrative Degrees for 2007 Grads." Overall, the news for recent graduates is good — employers are hiring 17.4 percent more college graduates than they did last year, and most — though not all — starting salaries are increasing (sorry fellow liberal arts’ majors, but we knew what we were getting into).

Here are some of the more lucrative college degrees, along with their percentage increase over last year, as reported by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE):

Chemical engineering: $60,054 (up 7.4%)

Electrical engineering: $54,599 (up 3.2%)

Mechanical engineering: $54,587 (up 7.7%)

Computer science: $51,070 (up 2%)

Civil engineering: $47,145 (up 4.8%)

Management information systems: $46,568 (up 5.5%)

Business administration: $43,523 (up 9.2%)

Marketing: $41,323 (up 14%)

Accounting: $46,508 (up 1.7%)

And here are some of the less lucrative:

Liberal arts: $30,502 (down 1.1%)

As a recipient of both an undergraduate and graduate degree in the liberal arts, I think I can speak for the entire liberal arts’ community when I say, with utter shock and indignation, "$30,502 a year? You’re kidding, right? That’s much more than I expected."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Benjamin Welch has been a college instructor in writing and composition for nearly six years. When he’s not teaching or playing golf, he offers advice for students seeking information about distance learning, online education and online degrees.

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