How much do college majors matter in early career salaries?

How much your major matters, in terms of early salary, is highly industry specific. In the energy sector, where I specialize, I’m seeing high value when it comes to engineering degrees — everyone else is fighting it out for entry level roles.

But timing here is profound. It was only a decade ago that computer science ranked just as high, and now, these grads are struggling to even land an interview. It’s very difficult to pursue a four-year degree with the kind of foresight required in today’s fast-changing job market.

So paying attention to trends in credentialing is a good first step, but no matter which major you pursue, you must be prepared to tailor your education, experience, and skillset.

What I see every day is that how you apply your major matters far more than what is written on your diploma. I regularly see candidates with non-traditional majors secure roles by paying careful attention to framing, ensuring that each one of their skills, every year of experience, and yes, their degree itself, is highlighted in a way that speaks directly to both the role and its sector.

People often assume that a college major acts as a direct salary formula: choose the right one, guarantee a high paycheck. The headlines comparing engineering to art history certainly encourage this anxiety. As someone who’s reviewed hundreds of graduate resumes, I can tell you that your major explains far less about your early-career income than you think. Your degree signals your intellectual curiosity and gives you a necessary foundation, but it is not a guaranteed credential for a specific salary. What truly determines your starting pay is your demonstrated ability to add immediate commercial value. We call this “job readiness.” This readiness isn’t built in the lecture hall; it’s built through applied experience like internships, small projects, and entrepreneurial side-hustles, activities that translate academic concepts into marketable, real-world skills.

I recently saw this distinction play out firsthand when hiring for an analyst role. One candidate had an economics degree but no practical work experience. The other studied sociology but had completed two summer internships at a market research firm, mastering data visualization and client reporting. The sociology major got the offer, not because of her major, but because she proved she could solve real business problems from day one.

Ultimately, employers are not investing in the subject you studied; they are investing in the impact you can already deliver. While your major may open the very first door, your proven, marketable skills are what determine how far you walk through it and how much you earn in your first few years.

I don’t think college majors matter nearly as much as people assume — at least not in the way they’re usually measured. What really determines salary early on isn’t the subject of your major, it’s your skill velocity — how quickly you can turn what you know into something economically useful.

A computer science grad who’s good at coding but slow to adapt might earn less over time than an English major who picks up data analytics or UX writing six months after graduating. The degree just gives you your starting coordinates. What matters is how fast you can build new coordinates once the real world starts shifting under your feet.

We’ve hired people with psychology, philosophy, and even music degrees who ended up excelling in roles like growth marketing or machine learning research. What they all had in common wasn’t their major — it was their learning metabolism. They could spot patterns, self-teach quickly, and apply insights across contexts.

So if we’re talking salary, I’d say your major shapes your first paycheck, but your adaptability shapes every one after that. The faster you can retool, the more irrelevant your degree becomes — and the more leverage you have in any market.

College majors create real differences in those first few years, but the gap isn’t as fixed as most young professionals think.

The pattern I see consistently is that technical fields — engineering, computer science, certain health professions — open doors to higher starting salaries because they’re tied to specific roles that command premium pay. You can’t work as a software engineer or pharmacist without the relevant qualification, and those industries are willing to pay for that expertise from day one.

But here’s what matters more in my work with early-career professionals: the major is just the entry ticket. What actually determines their trajectory in those first three years is how they show up, how quickly they learn, and how well they position themselves.

I’ve worked with arts graduates earning more than their commerce counterparts within two years because they were strategic about the industries they entered, the skills they developed, and the relationships they built. Meanwhile, I’ve seen engineering graduates plateau because they assumed the degree would do the heavy lifting for them.

The major matters most when it’s a hard requirement for the work. Beyond that, employers in those early years are looking for people who can think clearly, communicate well, adapt quickly, and contribute to outcomes. Someone who studied psychology but demonstrates commercial acumen and drive will often outpace someone with a business degree who lacks those qualities.

What I emphasize with clients is this: choose something you’re genuinely interested in because you’ll need that motivation to develop real expertise. Then focus relentlessly on building the professional capabilities that transcend any specific qualification — problem-solving, influence, resilience, and commercial awareness. That combination matters far more than the letters on your degree.

This is literally what I did for a living, so I’ve got some real perspective here.

I left Wall Street to focus on financial advising and stock consulting full time, and I spent years working with clients who came from every educational background you can imagine. I watched how their early career salaries played out based on what they studied.

Right out of school? Your major matters a ton. It’s basically your ticket into certain industries. Engineering, computer science, finance, accounting — those degrees open doors to higher starting salaries because companies need specific technical skills and they’re willing to pay for them. A finance major might start at $65K to $75K at a decent firm. A communications major might start at $40K to $45K.

But here’s the thing. By year three or four, it’s less about what you studied and more about what you’ve done with it. I’ve seen English majors end up in corporate strategy making six figures because they developed strong writing and analytical skills that companies needed. And I’ve seen finance majors stuck at $60K because they didn’t hustle or build any real expertise beyond the textbook.

The major gets you in the door and sets your starting point. After that, it’s about how fast you learn, how hard you work, and whether you’re solving real problems for your employer. The gap closes quicker than people think if you’re strategic about your career moves.

So yeah, major matters early. But it’s not destiny.

College majors matter for the first few years after graduation, but not as much as people think. Your major generally dictates your starting point, rather than your ceiling. Take for instance STEM and business majors, whose salaries start higher because their fields more directly match up with market demands and skills; a computer science graduate could make more right off the bat compared to a graduate in sociology or literature.

But here’s where it gets interesting — after two or three years, your skills, adaptability, and network start to matter more than the title of your degree. I have seen liberal arts grads out-earn engineers because they mastered digital marketing or data analytics, and they learned how to position themselves well.

So yes, your major gives you a head start — but it doesn’t define your trajectory. The real financial advantage comes from how quickly you turn your knowledge into marketable, evolving skills that employers actually need.

College majors can have a significant impact on early-career salaries, especially in the first few years after graduation. STEM fields like computer science, engineering, and technology tend to offer higher starting salaries, often around $70,000 within five years of graduating, while humanities or social science majors may start closer to $40,000. However, your first job, the skills you develop, and how quickly you adapt and grow often matter just as much, if not more. Internships, networking, and practical experience can help bridge salary gaps and open doors that a major alone might not. The quality of your first role can set the trajectory for your early career, sometimes outweighing the choice of major. While choosing a high-demand field is important, ongoing learning and strategic career moves are equally critical for long-term success. Ultimately, a combination of education, experience, and proactive career management shapes both earnings and opportunities.

From my personal experience and observations while hiring, a college major can influence your starting salary, but it’s not the only factor.

Graduates with technical degrees, such as computer science or engineering, often start with higher salaries. I saw this pattern among my colleagues early in their careers. That said, flexibility, problem-solving skills, and on-the-job learning become more important as time passes.

I initially followed a technical and academic path. Later, my entrepreneurial growth was actually fueled by skills I learned outside of school: curiosity, speed of implementation, and understanding what the market wants.

So, your major might help you get your foot in the door, but your career path depends more on what you do next.

The degree major has a moderate influence on salary in early career development. What can be more important is the speed at which academic knowledge is converted into operational value by graduates. We have experienced this in our practice with educational organizations and workforce development initiatives where non-technical majors have performed better than those in higher paying professions because they learned to organize data, workflow programs, and communicated with clients at an earlier age. The initial base salary can be adjusted according to the majors, but the growth after this point depends on adaptability. The graduates who know how to incorporate technology such as project management software, automation platforms, or CRM systems into their day-to-day jobs will be able to rise more quickly. The true benefit is in having the capability to meet the technical awareness and administrative competence skills — skill sets that will always be in demand in any industry, notwithstanding the name on the diploma.