The Economic Value of College Majors

The Economic Value of College Majors uses Census Data to analyze wages for 137 college majors to detail the most popular college majors, the majors that are most likely to lead to an advanced degree, and the economic benefit of earning an advanced degree by undergraduate major.

https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/valueofcollegemajors/

The importance of a major is powerful. So much that Bachelor’s degree holders in some majors can earn more than those with a graduate degree. We found that the highest-paid majors were among the STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) fields, and the lowest earning majors were with early childhood education and human services and community organization. The full report includes a more detailed analysis of the popularity of majors and educational and labor market outcomes by major.

* Following publication, the title and subhead of Figure 3.58 on page 95 was updated to reflect the correct information.

Download the full report (https://txcte.org/sites/default/files/resources/documents/The-Economic-Value-of-College-Majors-Full-Report-web-FINAL_0.pdf)

Download the executive summary (https://txcte.org/sites/default/files/resources/documents/The-Economic-Value-of-College-Majors-Exec-Summ-Web_0.pdf)

The interactive web tool below allows the user to see how much college graduates earn by 15 major groups and 137 detailed major subgroups nationally and within states. State data is available only on the interactive tool below. We found that among college graduates with the same majors, earnings vary by state. For example, business is the most common major, accounting for 26 percent of college graduates. But business majors’ earnings vary across states. In California, business majors earn $70,000 annually on average; in Illinois and New York, they earn $67,000; in Texas, they earn $65,000; and in Florida, they earn $54,000.

https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/valueofcollegemajors/#explore-data