Technical Degrees Head List of Top-Paying Majors in 2012

Spotlight for Career Services Professionals
January 23, 2013

Technical majors—particularly those in engineering—dominated the list of top-paying majors in 2012, according to NACE’s January 2013 Salary Survey.

The survey found that six engineering majors were among the 10 highest-paid at the bachelor’s-degree level. (See Figure 1.) This is not surprising since the supply of these graduates is low, but the demand for them is high.

At an average starting salary of $70,400, computer engineering was the highest-paid major in 2012. Other engineering majors that were among the top 10 were chemical engineering, ($66,400, second), aerospace/aeronautical/astronautical engineering ($64,000, fourth), mechanical engineering ($62,900, fifth), electrical/electronics and communications engineering ($62,300, sixth), and civil engineering ($57,600, seventh). 

Computer science majors earned starting salaries that averaged $64,400, the third highest among bachelor’s-degree graduates in 2012. Other non-engineering majors whose average starting salaries were among the highest were finance ($57,300, eighth), construction science/management ($56,600, ninth), and information sciences and systems ($56,100, 10th).

An executive summary of the January 2013 Salary Survey report is available at www.naceweb.org/salary-survey-data/.

NACE’s first report on starting salaries for Class of 2013 college graduates will be available in the April 2013 issue of Salary Survey.