A recent study conducted by researchers at Northeastern University shows that students' bachelor degrees may be more important than their alma maters when it comes to how much they earn after graduating.
The study, which was released in a book called "The College Majors Handbook: The Actual Jobs, Earnings, and Trends for Graduates of 60 College Majors," by Paul E. Harrington, Neeta P. Fogg and Thomas F. Harrington, is based on data collected by the Census Bureau on more than 250,000 college graduates.
Among the majors with the most earning potential are chemical engineering, aerospace and aeronautical engineering, computer systems engineering, physics and astronomy. Other high-earning majors include economics, pharmacy, accounting and financial management. On the lower end of the spectrum are majors in the arts and humanities. These include education, visual arts, dramatic arts, social work, music and dance.
AU offers a number of high-earning majors, including physics, economics, computer information systems and accounting. However, these majors are far from the most popular majors at the University; According to AU's Office of Institutional Research, about 2 percent of all undergraduates were declared in these majors last year.
But should students who want to make money become economics majors? Not necessarily.
While some majors may have more earning potential than others, research also shows that simply having a college degree can significantly increase starting salaries upon graduation, especially if students get a job directly involving their majors.
According to the Census Bureau, the average annual salary of employed high school graduates in 2001 was $20,039. The average for college graduates was $33,382. However, the average for college graduates with full-time jobs related to their undergraduate majors was $56,100.
At AU, 47 percent of seniors who graduated in May said their jobs were directly related to their degrees, while 31 percent said their jobs were related indirectly, according to Career Center Executive Director Katherine Stahl. Looking specifically at Kogod School of Business graduates, 63 percent said their jobs were directly related to their majors and 32 percent indirectly.
However, some AU students do not choose their majors based on their future earning potential.
Ciara Tejani, a freshman in the School of International Service, said her major of international relations has nothing to do with future earning potential. "I just have an interest in international relations and diplomacy," Tejani said. "Money had no bearing on the choice of the field I went into."
Liz Mahoney, an international business major, agrees.
"The amount of money I make matters, but it's not why I chose it," she said. "I'm minoring in French, and I wanted to be able to apply it to something else, so I chose international business."
The authors of the study, who are Northeastern University economists, said students should not choose majors for financial reasons.
"We do not believe that the choice of undergraduate major should be based solely or even primarily on the basis of the earnings prospect in a given field," they wrote in the study.
"However, because enrolling in a college or university is a costly investment decision, investors need to be well informed about the important aspects of the investment alternatives available to them," they wrote.
