--- title: Here Are the 10 Most Popular College Majors — and How Much Graduates Earn description: A new study shows the highest-paying college majors are dominated by STEM, while the most popular college majors earn less. authors: - name: Adam Hardy role: Lead Data Reporter url: https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/ bio: Adam Hardy has eight years of experience in personal finance journalism. At Money, he’s written extensively about student loans, including guides, explainers and breaking news. MuckRack named Adam one of the top 10 journalists covering student loans in the nation. education: University of South Florida, BA, Magazine Journalism at_money_since: 2021 articles: 498 covers: - Education - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Debt - Economy and Politics - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology also_seen_in: - The Penny Hoarder - Forbes Advisor - Creative Loafing - The New York Times - The Washington Post - Bloomberg - Harvard Law School - The Federal Register - National Consumer Law Center - CBS News - Becker's Hospital Review - Business Insider - Mother Jones - The Week - Fortune - The Philadelphia Inquirer - National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NAFSAA) - Education Advisory Board (EAB) - The Institute for College Access & Success (TICAS) - This Morning with Gordon Deal - Empower - Reddit social: - https://www.x.com/hardyjournalism - https://www.linkedin.com/in/hardyjournalism/ editors: - name: Brad Tuttle role: Senior Editor url: https://money.com/author/brad-tuttle/ bio: Brad Tuttle is a former senior editor at Money with over 10 years’ experience covering a vast number of personal finance topics, including careers, cars, travel, budgeting, investing, insurance, credit cards, consumer psychology, real estate, banking, and shopping and deals. education: Columbia University School of Journalism, MS at_money_since: 2014 articles: 366 covers: - Education - Banking - Business - Career Advice - Credit - Credit Cards - Economy and Politics - Health and Wellness - Housing - Identity Theft - Insurance - Investing - Lifestyle - Loans - Mortgages - Personal Finance - Pets - Professional Services - Retirement - Shopping - Taxes - Technology social: - https://twitter.com/bradrtuttle - https://linkedin.com/in/brad-tuttle-834b225 former_staff: true published: '2023-05-22T16:19:43.000Z' modified: '2024-05-17T04:55:56.000Z' section: Education tags: - News word_count: 333 canonical: https://money.com/most-popular-college-majors-jobs-salary/ type: NewsArticle source: structured-blocks --- > **Disclosure:** We research all brands listed and may earn a fee from our partners. Research and financial considerations may influence how brands are displayed. Not all brands are included. [Learn more](https://money.com/page/disclaimer/). ![College students studying at a library](https://img.money.com/2023/05/News-Popular-College-Majors-1.jpg) This spring, thousands of incoming freshmen painstakingly [picked which college to attend](https://money.com/how-to-choose-a-college/). Now, an equally important question faces them: What major will they choose? Will they follow their heart or the money? New [research from the HEA Group](https://www.theheagroup.com/blog/college-majors-pay-most), a higher-education consulting firm, can help illuminate the answer. (And hopefully it’s a little of both.) The findings show that the most popular bachelor’s programs aren’t necessarily the moneymakers — and that several of the highest-paying majors can lead to six-figure salaries only a few years after graduation. “College isn’t just about the money,” wrote Michael Itzkowitz, founder of the HEA Group and the former director of the U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard, in the report. “However, it is reasonable for one to expect that they will earn more over time by obtaining a college degree, and it’s worth knowing that some fields of study are more likely to lead to a higher economic premium.” Itzkowitz’s analysis looks at the average earnings of graduates four years after completing their program. Most of the highest-paying bachelor’s programs are, perhaps unsurprisingly, [related to science, tech, engineering and math (STEM)](https://money.com/best-stem-colleges/). **1\. Operations research:** $112,097 **2\. Naval architecture:** $109,121 **3\. Computer science:** $104,799 **4\. Marine transportation:** $103,626 **5\. Computer engineering:** $99,063 **6\. Veterinary medicine:** $97,533 **7\. Petroleum engineering:** $96,957 **8\. Systems engineering:** $95,224 **9\. Pharmaceutical sciences:** $94,136 **10\. Electrical engineering:** $91,693 ## How much the 10 most-popular college majors pay Many recent grads who majored in the most popular bachelor’s program don’t make $50,000 four years after graduating. **1\. Business administration:** $58,088 **2\. Registered nursing:** $76,510 **3\. Psychology:** $43,409 **4\. Criminal justice:** $47,089 **5\. Accounting:** $64,298 **6\. Communications:** $48,829 **7\. Teacher education and professional development:** $41,598 **8\. Biology:** $48,628 **9\. Liberal arts and humanities:** $44,201 **10\. Health and physical education:** $46,820 [These Are the 25 Best Colleges in America](https://money.com/these-are-the-best-colleges-2022/) [The 10 College Majors With the Highest (and Lowest) Post-Grad Unemployment Rates](https://money.com/college-majors-recent-grads-unemployment-rates/) [Most Americans Say College Is No Longer Worth the Cost](https://money.com/college-costs-no-longer-worth-it-survey/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "@id": "https://money.com/most-popular-college-majors-jobs-salary/#breadcrumb", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://money.com" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Education", "item": "https://money.com/education/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Colleges and Universities", "item": "https://money.com/colleges-and-universities/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "Here Are the 10 Most Popular College Majors — and How Much Graduates Earn" } ] }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://money.com/#website", "url": "https://money.com", "name": "Money", "publisher": { "@id": "https://money.com/#organization" } }, { "@type": "WebPage", "@id": "https://money.com/most-popular-college-majors-jobs-salary/#webpage", "url": "https://money.com/most-popular-college-majors-jobs-salary/", "name": "Here Are the 10 Most Popular College Majors — and How Much Graduates Earn", "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://money.com/#website" }, "datePublished": "2023-05-22T16:19:43.000Z", "mainEntity": { "@id": "https://money.com/most-popular-college-majors-jobs-salary/" }, "inLanguage": "en-US", "breadcrumb": { "@id": "https://money.com/most-popular-college-majors-jobs-salary/#breadcrumb" }, "dateModified": "2024-05-17T04:55:56.000Z" }, { "@type": "NewsArticle", "headline": "Here Are the 10 Most Popular College Majors — and How Much Graduates Earn", "articleSection": "Education", "image": [ { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://img.money.com/2023/05/News-Popular-College-Majors-1.jpg", "width": 2880, "height": 1920, "caption": "News-Popular-College-Majors" } ], "author": [ { "@type": "Person", "name": "Adam Hardy", "url": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/", "@id": "https://money.com/author/adam-hardy/#author", "description": "Adam Hardy has eight years of experience in personal finance journalism. 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