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Engineering Grads Earn the Most
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According to a new report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, eight of the top 10 best-paid college majors are in engineering, led by petroleum engineering at $86,220. Computer science was the fourth most lucrative degree, with graduates starting at $61,205 on average. In fact, the average salary for computer science majors has increased by at least 5 percent each year since 2007. The other non-engineering major in the top 10 is information sciences and systems, with an average starting salary of $54,038. Most impressively, job growth within these majors is expected to increase at a rapid rate over the next decade.
Engineering is expected to grow at a fast clip over the next eight years with 178,300 jobs added by 2018. Growth in civil engineering will be particularly rapid as a greater emphasis is placed on improving the nation's infrastructure. The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) projects biomedical engineering jobs to increase by an astounding 72 percent—the top-growing field—from 16,000 in 2008 to 27,600 in 2018. According to the BLS, the chemical engineering field will add 155,800 jobs between 2008 and 2018, an increase of 53.4 percent, the second fastest growing career in the data the BLS offers and well above the average job growth for all professions of 10.1 percent.
From The Wall Street Journal
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