College Majors and Earnings
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THE ECONOMIC VALUE COLLEGE MAJORSof Anthony P. Carnevale Ban Cheah Andrew R. Hanson Executive Summary 2015 The Economic Value FACT SHEET of College Majors In this report, we analyze the annual earnings of college graduates by major. Entry-level earnings are for ages 21-24. Mid-career earnings are for ages 25-59. Earnings are reported in 2013 dollars. Majors are aggregated into seven supergroups: STEM Business Teaching and Health Arts, humanities, Career-focused Social (Science, serving and liberal arts (E.g., industrial sciences technology, (E.g., education arts) engineering, and social work) and mathematics) e also analyze the prevalence of majors among college-educated adults and how much graduate Wdegree holders earn based on their undergraduate major compared to Bachelor’s degree holders. Finally, we analyze the 10 highest- and lowest-paying majors among 137 detailed major subgroups. Graduate degree holders include workers between the ages of 25 and 59. Graduate degree holders’ majors refer to their undergraduate major, not their graduate field of study. Bachelor’s degree holders refers to adults between the ages of 21 and 59 with a Bach- elor’s degree but no further education. Earnings data are reported for workers employed full-time, full-year. Data on the prevalence of majors include all college-educated adults, including those neither employed nor in the labor force. High school graduates refers to workers between the ages of 21 and 59 with nothing other than a high school diploma, employed full-time, full-year. The views expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of Lumina Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Joyce Foundation, or their officers, or their employees. 3 Not all Bachelor’s degrees FIGURE 1 are created equal. Entry-level $41,000 $38,000 $37,000 $30,000 $29,000 At the entry level, health majors earn $41,000 annually, while humanities and liberal arts majors earn Health STEM Business Career-focused Arts, humanities, $29,000 annually. and liberal arts Median annual wages of college-educated workers (ages 21-24) by major supergroup (2013$) $76,000 Mid-career $67,000 $65,000 $61,000 Among prime-age $51,000 workers,1 those who $46,000 majored in STEM earn $76,000 annually, while those who had a teaching and serving major earn $46,000 annually. STEM Business Health All majors Arts, humanities, Teaching and and liberal arts serving Median annual wages of college-educated workers (ages 25-59) by major supergroup (2013$) College graduates’ wages increase over the course of their careers, FIGURE 2 while the differences in wages among majors grow larger. Source: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce analysis of U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey micro data, 2009-2013 pooled sample. 1 “Prime-age workers” refers to those between the ages of 25 and 59. 4 Majors play a larger role in determining earnings than FIGURE 3 the decision to go to college. $3.4 MILLION The difference between the life- $1 time wages of college and high MILLION school graduates is $1 million; the difference between the highest- and lowest-paying college majors is $3.4 million. Difference in lifetime wages of Difference in lifetime wages of college and high school graduates highest- and lowest-paying majors Lifetime wage premium (in millions of 2013$) Your major isn’t Some college graduates who have generally FIGURE 4 your destiny. low-paying majors earn more than some college graduates with generally higher-paying majors: the top 25 percent of education majors earn $59,000 or more annually, while the bottom 25 percent of engineering majors earn $59,000 or less annually. $59,000 Engineering All majors Education 25th 50th 75th percentile percentile percentile High school graduate 0 $40,000 $80,000 $120,000 Interquartile range of annual wages of college-educated workers (ages 25-59) by educational attainment and major group (2013$) Source: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce analysis of U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey micro data, 2009-2013 pooled sample. 5 Business majors and STEM majors are the most FIGURE 5 common and among the highest-paying majors. Social sciences 6.9% Health 7.5% 26.1% Business Career-focused 11.9% (E.g., industrial arts) Arts, humanities, 13.4% and liberal arts 19.6% STEM (Science, technology, engineering, and Teaching and serving 14.5% mathematics) (E.g., education and social work) Share of college graduates (ages 25-59) by meta-major Most students choose a major that is connected FIGURE 6 to the labor market. 20% Majors with weak connections to the labor market – humanities and liberal arts, social sciences, and arts majors – comprise only 20 percent of college-educated workers. Source: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce analysis of U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey micro data, 2009-2013 pooled sample. 6 Some majors are more likely to lead to graduate FIGURE 7 school than others. Biology and life sciences majors are the most likely to earn a 57.7% 50.0% 45.3% graduate degree. Biology and Physical Psychology and life sciences sciences social work Three most likely majors to earn a graduate degree Three least likely majors to earn a graduate degree 35.1% 23.2% 22.2% 20.8% All majors Arts Business Communications and journalism The benefit of a graduate degree is much greater FIGURE 8 for some majors than others. $32,000 Physical sciences $27,000 Social sciences $22,000 Business $16,000 Psychology and social work $15,000 Education $13,000 Industrial arts, consumer services, and recreation 0 $20,000 $40,000 $60,000 $80,000 $100,000 Median annual wages Graduate degree wage premium Source: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce analysis of U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey micro data, 2009-2013 pooled sample. 7 What’s It Worth? FACT SHEET Highest- and Lowest-Earning Majors Almost all of the highest-paying majors are in engineering fields. Rank 0 $40,000 $80,000 $120,000 1 Petroleum Engineering $136,000 2 Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical $113,000 Sciences and Administration 3 Metallurgical Engineering $98,000 4 Mining and Mineral Engineering $97,000 Pharmacy, pharmaceutical 5 Chemical Engineering $96,000 sciences, and pharmaceutical 6 Electrical Engineering $93,000 administration Bachelor’s degree holders have the 7 Aerospace Engineering $90,000 only non-engineering major 8 Mechanical Engineering $87,000 among the top 10 majors ranked by wages. 9 Computer Engineering $87,000 10 Geological and $87,000 Geophysical Engineering The lowest-paying majors are in education, arts, and social work fields. 128 Family and Consumer Sciences $45,000 129 Drama and Theater Arts $45,000 130 Elementary Education $43,000 131 Theology and Religious Vocations $43,000 132 Visual and Performing Arts $42,000 Early childhood education 133 Teacher Education: Multiple Levels $42,000 majors earn $39,000 annually 134 Social Work $42,000 mid-career, the lowest among 135 Studio Arts $42,000 college graduates. 136 Human Services and $41,000 Community Organization 137 Early Childhood Education $39,000 Median annual wages of college-educated workers (ages 25-59) by major subgroup (2013$) Source: Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce analysis of U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey micro data, 2009-2013 pooled sample. 8 LOWEST AND HIGHEST EARNING MAJORS BACHELOR’S DEGREE HOLDERS Rank Major Median Earnings $48,871 129 Drama and Theater Arts $44,538 Agriculture and Natural Resources 108 Fine Arts $48,871 113 Music $48,686 135 Studio Arts $41,762 Architecture and Engineering 132 Visual and Performing Arts $42,465 117 Neuroscience $48,190 123 Art and Music Education $45,613 Arts 137 Early Childhood Education 137 Detailed$39,097 Majors 130 Elementary Education $42,736 Biology and Life Science 125 General Education Selective$45,572 Statistics 127 Language and Drama Education $45,440 116 Mathematics Teacher Education $48,654 Business Science and Computer 119 $47,785 Teacher Education Communications 118 Secondary Teacher Education $48,078 and Journalism Social Science or History Computers, Statistics 120 $46,608 Teacher Education and Mathematics 126 Special Needs Education $45,440 133 Teacher Education: Multiple LevelsContents $42,194 Education 122 Communication Disorders 10 Earnings$45,654 at the 25th, 50th and 75th Sciences and Services percentiles, by Bachelor’s degree major 109 Art History and Criticism 14 The graduate$48,871 advantage, earnings at the 25th, 50th and 75th percentiles Health 121 Composition and Speech by Bachelor’s$46,608 degree major 30 All majors by group, ranked by 110 Humanities earnings$48,686 and popularity Humanities and 124 Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies 34 Lowest-$45,613 and highest-earning majors, Liberal Arts Bachelor’s degree holders 131 Theology and Religious Vocations $42,736 36 Lowest- and highest-earning majors, graduate degree holders Industrial Arts, Consumer 128 Family and Consumer Sciences $44,743 Services & Recreation 38 Majors ranked by popularity for Law and Public Policy 111 Physical Fitness Parks $48,686 Recreation and Leisure Bachelor’s degree holders 136 Human Services and $41,113 Community Organization 39 Majors ranked by popularity for Physical Sciences graduate degree holders 112 Psychology $48,686 Psychology and Social Work 134 Social Work $42,194 115 Anthropology and Archeology $48,679 Social Science 114 Interdisciplinary Social Sciences $48,679 34 MID-CAREER EARNINGS AT THE 25TH, 50TH