Top 20 Best-Paying College Degrees in 2010

Lynn O'Shaughnessy
The College Solution

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Top 20 Best-Paying College Degrees in 2010

By Lynn O'Shaughnessy | Jul 26, 2010 | 3 Comments

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Want to know what the best-paying college degrees are?Complex math problems on black chalkboard

Here’s a hint: The college degrees that lead to the highest salaries all involve high-level mathematics.

Just like last year’s survey of salaries by college degrees, engineering majors dominate the list. For undergraduates, seven of the top 10 college degrees, according to PayScale, Inc., belong to engineering majors. The best paying college degree of all — by a long shot — is petroleum engineering.

The salary advantage that graduates, who earn these largely technical degrees, enjoy continues as they move into the middle of their careers.

Here are the top 20 best-paying college degrees in 2010:

College Degree Starting Median Pay Mid-career pay

1. Petroleum engineering $93,000 $157,000
2. Aerospace engineering $59,400 $108,000
3. Chemical engineering $64,800 $108,000
4. Electrical engineering $60,800 $104,000
5. Nuclear engineering $63,900 $104,000
6. Applied mathematics $56,400 $101,000
7. Biomedical engineering $54,800 $101,000
8. Physics $50,700 $99,600
9. Computer engineering $61,200 $87,700
10. Economics $48,800 $97,800
11. Computer science $56,200 $97,700
12. Civil engineering $53,500 $93,400
13. Statistics $50,000 $93,400
14. Finance $47,500 $91,500
15. Software engineering $56,700 $91,300
16. Management info. systems $50,900 $90,300
17. Mathematics $46,400 $88,300
18. Government $41,500 $88,300
19. Information systems $49,300 $87,100
20. Construction Management $50,400 $87,000

Lynn O’Shaughnessy is the author of The College Solution, an Amazon bestseller, and she also writes for TheCollegeSolutionBlog. Follow her on Twitter.

Best-paying college degree image by alist. CC 2.0.