Highest Paying College Major is Engineering
Which new college graduates are faring best when it comes to salary in the current economy? According to a new report from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, engineers are pulling down the highest starting salaries.
NACE's Summer 2009 Salary Survey report shows that engineering disciplines account for four of the five disciplines getting the highest starting salary offers. The average starting salary offers by engineering discipline are:
- Petroleum engineering = $83,121
- Chemical engineering = $64,902
- Mining engineering = $64,404
- Computer engineering = $61,738
- Computer science = $61,407
"Many of the engineering disciplines benefit from an imbalance in the supply/demand ratio," says Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director. "Even in a tight job market, there are simply more opportunities requiring an engineering degree than graduates available to fill those positions. That drives salaries up."
In fact, out of the more than 1,524,000 bachelor's degrees awarded in 2007, just 450 were in petroleum engineering and only 4,492 were in chemical engineering.*
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