Moment of Clarity

Necessary reading for the Occupussies who think I should pay for their, ahem, "education." 

Moment of Clarity

The website www.payscale.com lists the median starting pay and median mid-career pay for 125 common bachelor degrees. Petroleum engineers start at $97,000 while elementary education majors start at $29,000. No wonder the world’s social scientists hate big oil.
High school seniors, pay attention here - the top-paying bachelor degrees in order are: petroleum engineering, chemical engineering, electrical engineering, materials science, aerospace engineering, computer engineering, physics, applied mathematics, computer science, and nuclear engineering.

And the worst-paying degrees in order are: child and family studies, social work, elementary education, culinary arts, special education, recreation and leisure studies, physical education, public health, theology, and art. The various ethnic and gender studies majors are not even listed separately as there is no market for them.

Going on to graduate school will not fix a low-paying degree choice, either. According to Forbes Magazine, the worst master’s degrees for employment (job availability and pay) in order are: music, history, divinity, English, psychology, social work, library science, counseling, education, and chemistry.

So if your goal is to get the best return on your investment in post-secondary education, then start out taking your math and science foundations at a two-year college and then transfer to the cheapest four-year college that offers a degree in Petroleum Engineering. You will spend less than $30,000 for a credential that carries a $97,000 median starting pay. Ask a business major (#58) to explain ROI to you.

You are what you made it. Now suck on it.

Bye