With college graduation season upon us, it's again time to take a look at which majors garner the most pay.
For all of the jobs in the Top 30, starting pay was up over last year. Engineering and science occupations continued their stranglehold on the top third of the rankings. For the record, still coming in dead last is Child and Family Studies with a starting salary of $30,300 and a mid-career salary (15 years in) of $37,200.
In 2012, our sister site ThinkAdvisor looked at which degrees were paying the most. This year, as it did in 2013, it drilled down into specific majors using data from payscale.com. Payscale lists 129 majors on its site.
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The rankings below are based on data collected from 1,000 universities and include graduates with bachelor's degrees only. The universities surveyed include 88% of U.S. schools with an enrollment of more than 5,000.
Take a look at the 30 Best Paying College Majors for 2014:
30. Mathematics
Starting Salary: $49,400
Mid-Career Salary: $88,800 (22nd, tie)
29. Information Technology
Starting Salary: $49,900
Mid-Career Salary: $84,100 (30th, tie)
28. Economics
Starting Salary: $50,100
Mid-Career Salary: $96,700 (15th)
27. Occupational Health and Safety
Starting Salary: $50,500
Mid-Career Salary: $80,300 (40th)
26 (tie). Computer Information Systems
Starting Salary: $50,800
Mid-Career Salary: $87,400 (25th)
26 (tie). Industrial Technology
Salary: $50,800
Mid-Career Salary: $81,500 (37th)
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24. Construction Management
Starting Salary: $51,500
Mid-Career Salary: $88,800 (22nd, tie)
23. Information Systems
Starting Salary: $51,900
Mid-Career Salary: $87,200 (26th)
22. Statistics
Starting Salary: $52,500
Mid-Career Salary: $98,900 (13th)
21 (tie). Applied Mathematics
Starting Salary: $52,800
Mid-Career Salary: $96,200 (16th)
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21 (tie). Supply Chain Management
Starting Salary: $52,800
Mid-Career Salary: $83,700 (34th , tie)
19. Physics
Starting Salary: $53,100
Mid-Career Salary: $101,100 (9th)
18. Management Information Systems
Starting Salary: $53,800
Mid-Career Salary: $92,200 (18th)
17. Mechanical Engineering Technology
Starting Salary: $54,100
Mid-Career Salary: $84,000 (32nd, tie)
16. Civil Engineering
Starting Salary: $54,300
Mid-Career Salary: $91,100 (20th)
15. Nursing
Starting Salary: $55,400
Mid-Career Salary: $71,100 (57th)
14. Electrical Engineering Technology
Starting Salary: $57,900
Mid-Career Salary: $87,600 (24th)
13. Actuarial Mathematics
Starting Salary: $58,700
Mid-Career Salary: $120,000 (2th)
12. Biomedical Engineering
Starting Salary: $59,000
Mid-Career Salary: $91,700 (19th)
11. Computer Science
Starting Salary: $59,800
Mid-Career Salary: $102,000 (8th)
10. Software Engineering
Starting Salary: $60,500
Mid-Career Salary: $99,300 (12th)
9. Mechanical Engineering
Starting Salary: $60,900
Mid-Career Salary: $99,700 (10th)
8. Industrial Engineering
Starting Salary: $61,100
Mid-Career Salary: $94,400 (17th)
7. Materials Science & Engineering
Starting Salary: $62,700
Mid-Career Salary: $99,500 (11th)
6. Aerospace Engineering
Starting Salary: $62,800
Mid-Career Salary: $109,000 (5th)
5. Electrical Engineering
Starting Salary: $64,300
Mid-Career Salary: $106,000 (6th, tie)
4. Computer Engineering
Starting Salary: $65,300
Mid-Career Salary: $106,000 (6th, tie)
3. Nuclear Engineering
Starting Salary: $67,600
Mid-Career Salary: $117,000 (3rd)
2. Chemical Engineering
Starting Salary: $68,200
Mid-Career Salary: $115,000 (4th)
1. Petroleum Engineering
Starting Salary: $103,000
Mid-Career Salary: $160,000 (1st)
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