In my post And the Winner is: Petroleum Engineering i wrote about petroleum engineering and how the Petroleum Engineering graduates can demand high salaries as soon as they graduate. It seems the prediction i made in that article seems to have been proven right by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) in its latest list of the highest-paying college majors of the class of 2010. Engineering- and technology-related fields of study once again came out on top :-).
Engineering and technology majors consistently rank high on any list of highest-paying careers, and there have only been minor changes in the ranks over the last few years. (Information sciences and systems is a new addition to the list this year, coming in at 10th place.) The only non-engineering related degrees in the top 10 this time around were computer science and information sciences and systems. According to NACE, Petroleum engineering earned the highest starting salary reported at the bachelor’s degree level ($86,220).
The Top ten list is as follows:
1. Petroleum Engineering: US$86,220
2. Chemical Engineering: US$65,142
3. Mining and Mineral
Engineering (including geological): US$64,552
4. Computer science: US$61,205
5. Computer engineering: US$60,879
6. Electrical/electronics and
communications engineering: US$59,074
7. Mechanical engineering: US$58,392
8. Industrial/manufacturing engineering: US$57,734
9. Aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical
engineering: US$57,231
10. Information sciences and systems: US$54,038
