If you decide to date someone and if you find out they are bad person years down the line you basically just wasted a bunch of time, so it is really good to be able to weed out the bad ones at the beginning so you don't waste any time. But let's talk about another significant life event and that is choosing a degree that you are going to be spending four-plus years of your life, and probably over $40,000 on, in order to obtain this little piece of paper that said you did a thing.

My question is, why are there no red flags for college degrees when this is something that could potentially put your $40,000 into debt, and it could waste four years of your life and a lot of people end up not even going into whatever degree. This is crazy when you realize that only about 27% of people who go to college end up getting a job that has anything to do with that major that they spent all that time and money on.

Also, students end up changing their degrees an average of three times. So that is why I am writing this article to show you the red flag so that you don't end up getting a worthless degree, where you don't end up being able to get a job with that piece of paper that you get at the end.  At the end of the article, I am going to show you how to calculate the likelihood that the degree you are getting is a scam, I am also going to go ahead and show you my favorite resources, these are ones that I spent a lot of time finding, I went through a lot of bad ones to find the good ones took me many many hours and these will save you a ton of time and they offer good information so you can go ahead and do the research on your degree, you can check it out, personalize, make sure it is right for you and then make your decision.


Let's get started

10. Your Degree Has The Word Studies In It

Of course, this is a generalization and I am sure somebody in the comments is going to furiously type out, well, my aunt's husband's cousin has a degree in recreational studies and they make $200,000 a year and they love their job. I get it, there is always going to be a few exceptions to every rule, but I think it is much smarter to focus on the big picture and look at the statistics and just think to yourself, are there any actual jobs that are related to this degree? There probably are not that many jobs and then the few that are out there you have tons of competition and they don't even pay that well.

9. The Degree Sound Too Good To Be True

A great example of this one for me personally is a history degree. History is one of my biggest passions I absolutely love reading about it and listening to it and watching documentaries, it is extremely fun, I love it, and guess what? A ton of other people feels the same exact way. Because studying history is basically recreation and not that many people get paid to have fun. The stark reality is very very few people make a living doing what their number one passion is. 

This does not mean you have to do something you are completely dispassionate about, but you might have to do something that is maybe your third passion or your fourth or your fifth because only people who get degrees in these majors that sound too good to be true and then they get a job from it are people who are rich in the first place, they come from a rich family where they had an insider connection or something along those lines. The truth is. something might be your passion, your number one passion, but there are just no jobs out there for it, and if you want to do that for a living you have to get creative with it because getting a degree just is not enough.

8. A Significant Amount Of People Are Not Working In Jobs Related To Their Major

In a 2018 study by the National Center of educational statistics or in CES,



It was found that 73% of people who got degrees related to health care were working a job that was in the health care field, compare that to 27% of general studies majors, and 26% of humanities majors that are working a job related to their degree. This means that the majority of these people went to school probably got about $30,000 plus in debt because that is the average student loan debt these days it is almost $40,000 now, and they are working a job that is completely unrelated to their major.

This is a huge red flag.

7. There Are No Jobs Related To The Major

This seems like an obvious one but, you get a degree in engineering and you become an engineer, you get a nursing degree like registered nurse RN you become a nurse, and if you get a computer science degree well you have like 10 or 20 different options, but what do you become if you get a degree in Romance languages. A romance linguist, I mean, off the top of my head the only thing I can think of is maybe getting a job with a company that produces Shakespearean plays, or maybe you get a job with a museum, or maybe you become a professor that teaches other suckers how to become an expert at Romance languages, this is an obvious one but just make sure there are actual jobs out there in careers your degree is preparing you.

6. There Are Jobs, But There Are No Job Openings

Let's say there are jobs out there but they are getting like 100 applications every single day, and there is only one position that is open. This is basic supply and demand and I think a good example of this would be a film degree. Of course, there are jobs in film, you can work for Hollywood and become a film director, you can become an expert on lighting or sound or an editor, the only problem is there are no job openings, and every time there is a job opening they probably do not even post it anywhere, they just choose somebody that they already know because they have a huge waiting list of people. 

Another thing you can check that is related to this is what's called future growth, and by that I mean, how many jobs do they expect to be created in the next ten years.

This way you know how many jobs are available for you now, and you are also looking out for future you, and making sure there is going to be jobs available in the future. It is always a good idea to look out for future you.

5. The Jobs That Are Out There Don't Pay Well

In most markets with most jobs, the way that a job pay is a salary is decided, it is all about supply and demand. How many people have the particular set of skills that you need for this job, and then how many job openings are there out there, and if not a lot of people have that skill set but there is a lot of job openings, guess what? the people that do have the skill set are going to get paid higher. It's all about solving a problem and having skills that people are willing to pay for. This system is not always perfect and I think the best example of this is education, and it is just heartbreaking but teachers in the United States of America are not paid very well. Even though this is a job where there is plenty of job openings but for some reason even though it's a very important profession, they are just not paid very well and they are worked really hard.

Contrast this to South Korea for instance where teachers are considered to be on the same level as doctors and they are paid extremely well, but for some reason, in the United States, they just aren't valued the same, even though education is probably one of the most important things for the future of our country. It is sad but education is a perfect example of this.

4. Low Job Satisfaction Rating

This is where people who are in this career, they will get a survey and they will talk about how satisfied they are with their job, do they feel like it's meaningful, do they feel like they're making a difference, do they feel happy when they're at their job. They calculate it and then they spit out a number which is the job satisfaction rating score. And my favorite website to do this is probably glassdoor.com. I think they have the best and most accurate information, but it is also a very good idea to talk to people who are currently in that career right now, you can do that with LinkedIn you can just reach out through your network so you know somebody. Because what's the point in making a ton of money if you are absolutely miserable while you're doing it.

3. There Are A Ton Of Graduates

Maybe there are a lot of jobs, but there are so many graduates that there are not enough jobs to meet the influx of people graduating with whatever degree that is. A perfect example of this is psychology, there are jobs out there for psychology it's very important to society, mental health is very important it's a huge issue right now, but unfortunately, psychology is such a popular degree that the jobs out there are totally saturated even though there are quite a few jobs out there and it's very important and it does solve a problem for society, there is not enough of them, and because of this a lot of psychology majors are forced to get their masters or their doctorate just to be able to find a job. And then a bunch of the other ones ends up going into a job that's completely unrelated to their major.

2. The Degree Is Either Too General Or To Niche

There are some degrees out there that are so general they almost become useless, and an example of this one would be a communications degree. It is almost like you are getting a life degree where it is so general, the people that are hiring you are like, what did you even study in communications? I don't understand, and it is hard for the employer to identify the particular set of skills that you have, and therefore a lot of communications majors end up jobless. On the other end of the spectrum, you have degrees that are just way too niche, the skillset that you learn is so narrow that it does not apply to anything else, and a perfect example of this would be archaeology.

There are not that many archaeology jobs out there and the skillset that you learn does not transfer to anything else. And so, therefore, it's not going to be very attractive to potential employers.

1. You Don't Even Need A Degree To Get The Same Job

A great example of this and I am sure there are certain jobs that are exceptions to this but, I am going to mention, it is a police officer. You do not need a criminal justice degree to work as a police officer or detective, all you need is a high school diploma and then some random agencies will require an associate's degree and then very rarely they will require a bachelor's degree, but it does not have to be in criminology or criminal justice. This is something that a lot of people don't really know. There are a lot of jobs where you technically don't need a degree in order to get into that field, but a degree helps. One perfect example of this is computer science. Technically you don't need a degree to get a job at Google in computer science, but it really really helps and unless you are some kind of child prodigy or something like that, getting a degree in computer science is going to help you a lot getting a job at a good tech company.

Then the opposite of this is there are a lot of jobs out there that require degrees even though it doesn't really seem like you'd need one to do the job, and a common example of this one is flight attendants, there is a lot of companies that require their flight attendants to have degrees, but overall, if the job doesn't require a degree then don't get one.



Best Resources You Can Use To Do Research On Different Degrees And Jobs

1. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS)

You can use this to find the median pay, the typical degree required for entry-level, and then it will also tell you how many jobs are available now, and how many are projected to be available in the next 10 years, and whenever I am searching on BLS I literally just type BLS and then whatever the job is, and it's usually the very top result.

2. Glassdoor.com

The second site that I use and I absolutely love I think this is the best site even though there are a hundred other sites out there that say they do the same thing is going to be glassdoor.com. This one is great for looking up annual pay and it gives you a little bit more detail on it, it will tell you what the entry-level is, and what the upper range is, whereas BLS just gives you like an average, it is also good for job satisfaction rating and telling you how many jobs are open right now. And again it's super easy to use all I do is type in Glassdoor and then whatever job I am looking up in Google and it's usually the first one that pops up.

It does give you a more visually pleasing and detailed breakdown of the careers whereas BLS just gives you Pier numbers and it's not as nice to look at.

3. National Center For Educational Statistics (NCES)

You can find this one on nces.edu.gov. This is a government website and they release all kinds of interesting information like what the average graduate of a certain degree is making in the real world, or they might release the unemployment statistics for different degrees. All kinds of amazing studies that are designed and meant to help you make a really good decision when it comes to whichever degree you are going to get.

4. Linkedin

What you can do with LinkedIn is let's say you are curious about a particular career, you can type that in on LinkedIn and thousands of people that are currently doing that career will pop up. Let's say you have a dream job of being a software engineer at Google, for instance, you can type in software engineer and you can narrow it down to only people who are working at Google and then you can message those people and ask them questions, and you can also see what kind of degrees they got, what kind of school they went to, did they get a two-year degree, a four-year degree, six years, all of that information is available on LinkedIn. You can just reverse engineer it and then make a solid plan to achieve your goal.

5. Phone

You can't do this with everyone it would take too much time but, once you have narrowed it down to a few careers or a few degrees that you are interested in, what you want to do is pick up the phone and talk to people who are currently doing those careers, you can start by messaging them on LinkedIn, or reach out through your network, or look up maybe people in your local area that are doing those careers, it's so so important to talk to real people who are doing it and they will give you a more accurate version of what it's all about.

Conclusion

Nothing beats talking to real people but you do want to talk to at least a few people in each career because again you could get a hold of somebody who's like super positive Pollyanna type person or you could get a hold of somebody who's just a Negative Nancy and they are going to tell you everything is horrible when in reality, it's pretty good.

When you are talking about which degrees you want to pursue or which careers you want to go into, there are a ton of great jobs and careers in this field, in this industry, but there are some that stand up above the others, so in this article, I am going to go over my personal top five. I am going to be sticking more towards the software technology Information Systems side, I am not going to be talking about anything mathematical related or engineering related.

1. Computer And Infomation Research Scientist

• Median Pay: $118,370 per year
• $96.91 per hour

They invent and design new approaches to technology as well as finding new ways to use the technology that already exists.

They make around $118,370 a year which is extremely good, there are about 31,000 jobs available and they are growing at about 16% per year which again both of those are extremely good. Most of the other careers on this list you don't need a master's degree for, but with this one, you generally do have to get a master's degree in order to get hired. But overall it is an amazing choice and it is especially good if you are into the theoretical side of things.

2. Computer Network Architects

• Median Pay: $109,020 per year
• $52.41 per hour

They design and build data communication networks such as local area networks, wide area networks.

They make $109,020 a year, there are 159,300 jobs available right now which is huge but, there is also only a 5% growth rate. But that is still pretty good considering there are so many jobs available already. With that being said, the 5% growth rate is one of the lower ones on this list and that can be a little bit alarming.

3. Information Security Analysts

• Median Pay: $98,350 per year
• $47.28 per hour

They plan and carry out sick security measures, that are used to protect the information of either a business or an organization. And as you can imagine with all the data leaks that have happened in the last few years this is a very very important job.

They are making about $98,350 a year on average which is again very very nice, but they also have 112,300 current jobs right now and they are expected to grow at a ridiculous clip of 32% in the next 10 years. 32% is ridiculously high, that's like way higher than the average growth rate of a normal job, so there is going to be a ton of demand for this one the next ten years for sure and probably in the next 20 30 40 years as well.

4. Computer System Analysts

• Median Pay: $88,740 per year
• $43.66 per hour

I know a lot of these sound very similar but I promise you they are completely different. Computer system analysts study an organization or business's current computer system and then they find ways of making it more efficient and effective.

They are making about $88,740 a year on average which are still nice it is one of the lower ones on this list but it is still really good, and there is an insane 633,900 job openings right now, and on top of that, it is growing at about 9% which is well above average. This is a solid option if you are just looking for a career, but I think this one all along the list might be the best one if you're planning on maybe opening your own business or going into more of the business side of things. The reason for that is because it combines technology with business, and it is a really good combination of both so you will get experience and that can lead to a lot of good things in the future.

5. Software Developers

• Median Pay: $105,590 per year
• $50.77 per hour

Software developers create applications or systems that run on a computer or another device like a phone or a tablet.

They make around $105,590 a year but the craziest number on this list is, they have 1,365,500 total jobs right now available, and on top of that, they are growing at an insane clip of about 21% in the next 10 years. 


Which Of The Career Do You Want To Pursue?

When you are researching and looking into which one you want to pursue I think a big thing you want to look into is what kind of lifestyle do you want to live? Because all of these are really good choices but some of them are going to have a lot more flexibility than others, and in my opinion, it is really difficult to be software development because no matter what lifestyle you want to live or what you want to do in the future this is going to give you a very good platform to lunch off of.

If you want a remote job where you don't want to have to go into an office you want to work remotely so you can be anywhere in the country or you can just stay at home, it probably won't pay well, but it is nice to have that option just in case you want that in the future. If you are ambitious and you want to work a lot, there are a lot of options out there for you. There are a lot of jobs that major companies like Facebook, Google, etc that pay up to $500,000 a year and that is not normal for an employee position. Usually, only people who make that kind of money are either entrepreneurs that are business owners and they took a huge risk and they just happen to win, or people who are high-level executives that worked for 20 30 years and finally got to become a CEO or a vice president of a huge organization.

Speaking of entrepreneurship that's another option you can go with, technology is one of the best industries to start your own business in, and you are going to have the highest chance of success. There is a ton of opportunities out there and I think that you get the idea here this applies to all the careers that I mentioned but especially for software development. 





Hopefully, you got some value out of this

I generally think that getting a business degree is a good idea and this is despite the fact that business degrees create the most millionaires by a mile compared to any other type of degree, and it also has some of the best statistics in terms of job openings as well as pay. So this article is going to be all about the high-paying business careers that you can go into with a business degree, and then after that, I am going to go into the pros and cons of getting a business degree.

5 Different Types Of Business Careers

1. Management
2. Business Operation
3. Financial Specialist
4. Sales
5. Other

Let's get started

Business Operation

When it comes to business operations what we are going to be talking about and this sort of career is just running day-to-day operations of a business such as purchasing supplies, or managing employee benefits. Three examples of jobs that would fall under this category would be claims adjusters,  logisticians, and then management analysts.

Financial Specialist

These careers are going to be all about either keeping track of managing or investing other people's money. now of course, you are going to have accountants on this list but, you are also going to have financial advisors, financial analysts, and also financial examiner's.

Management

This one is a little bit self-explanatory but you are going to oversee other people who are working within a business. Generally you are going to need to have some experience either with management or in the business itself in order to move into a position like this. Few examples of this one are going to be chief executives, computer and information systems managers, and then financial managers.

Sales Specialists

This one is interesting because a lot of the time the entry-level positions do not pay very well, but you can also work way up to a position that does pay extremely well. A few examples of high paying careers and this one are going to be first-line supervisors of sales agents, sales engineers, securities commodities, and financial service sales agents.

Other - None Category

Others, which are ones that do not fit into any of the other categories and you are going to notice here that a lot of them are related to math. Some examples of these are going to be actuaries, economists, and statisticians. Which field you go into is going to vary depending on your skills and what your interests are, for instance, if you are into logistics and making sure that Amazon package gets from point A to point B at the right time. Maybe you should go into business operations.

If you are good at math maybe you consider going into some of the other careers like statisticians for instance. If you are into investing or that sort of thing, you probably want to go into the financial services, selling is extremely fun for some people so you'd probably want to go into sales if that is true for you. And then management is definitely the highest paying out of all these and it is very rewarding but it is also very difficult because you have to work long hours and you have to manage other people. 

If you are somebody who wants to become an entrepreneur in the future I recommend probably starting off with sales because you can do that even from a young age, and then as you move up and go through the ranks after you have gotten your degree, you can move into more management positions because you are going to learn a skill called leadership, which is one of the most important things that you can know if you are going to start your own business.

Pros And Cons Of A Business Degree

Pros: It Is Extremely Versatile

You can go into any number of industries and all of them are going to be in need of people who are good at business and have these skills. Another thing about getting a business degree is let's be honest here, it is not as difficult as getting an engineering degree, or a computer science degree, or something that is extremely heavy in math. If you are somebody who is more street smart and you are not a book person, this is probably a good degree for you to go into. The great thing about getting a business degree is it is extremely good training for maybe potentially opening up your own business in the future, or potentially starting to invest.

Cons: The Barrier To Entry Is Lower

The biggest con of getting a business degree is there are a lot of business-related careers where you do not have to have a business degree in order to get a job, and because of that the barrier to entry is a lot lower. For instance, a business owner friend of mine told me that he loves hiring engineers and stealing them away from the engineering world because he thinks they make good workers, but still this does not change the fact that most of the people in the business world did get a business degree and it does help when it comes to getting a job. Some business degrees are much better than others and I will probably end up writing an article on that in the future because I have gotten some requests for it.

Overall it is competitive and you are probably better off if you are an outgoing person who has good communication skills but, there is not a need for you to have that, there are some jobs where you do not have to be that good of a communicator.






Hopefully, you got some value out of this

This article is going to be about the highest paying college degrees and by that I mean four-year degrees only. We are not going to include any master's degrees, doctoral degrees, professional degrees, anything that takes more than four years is going to be off the list. Money does not matter and you should always follow your passion, obviously pay is not everything I know this, there is a lot of things that you want to consider, job satisfaction, passion, quality of life, but that is not what we are talking about today. Today we are just going to be going over the degrees that pay the big money.

Before I start this article I did a ton of research on this and it is really difficult to determine which one actually pays the most because almost all of the studies rely on self-reporting data which is not always accurate. But with that being said, I got all of my information from three different sources;

• Bureau of Labor Statistics 
• Survey by payscale.com
• Analysis by glassdoor.com

Most of this data is going to be based on your first 5 years after graduating but, I also took into account the overall median pay of everybody that graduated with a degree as well.

10. Finance Degree

• Financial Analysts
• Median Pay: $85,660 per year
• $41.18 per hour

• Financial Advisor
• Median Pay: $88,890 per year
• $42.72 per hour

There are many different career paths you can go down with a finance degree, common ones are going to be a financial analyst or a personal financial advisor. Financial analysts are going to provide guidance to people who are making investment decisions, this could include businesses as well as individual investors personal. 


Financial advisors, on the other hand, are more boots on the ground and they are going to be interacting with normal people that are just trying to save for retirement

There are lots of job openings for both of these careers and they are both growing a lot faster than average, and a good friend of mine from high school ended up becoming a financial analyst and moving to New York and he's doing really well compared to anybody else in my high school, so I have seen firsthand how good a finance degree can be.

9. Physics Degree

• Physics degree 
• Median Pay: $97,300 per year
• $50.300 per hour

• Physicists and Astronomers
• Median Pay: 119.580 per year
• $57.49 per hour

You can become a physicist with this degree but there are a lot of other options as well 

• Accelerator Operator
• Applications Engineer
• Data Analyst
• Design Engine
• High School Physics Teacher
• It Consultant
• Lab Technician
• Laser Engineer

People who graduate with a physics degree are making around $97,300 a year. If you do decide to go for a higher level degree you can make a lot more than this, and physics graduates are paid really well and they are highly sought after because this is probably the most difficult degree that you can get an undergrad

Companies know that when they are hiring someone with a physics degree they are getting a very smart hardworking individual that is going to solve problems for them. The big problem with this one is that if you only get a bachelor's degree you are probably not going to find that many opportunities to work as a physicist. If that is the path that you are trying to go, you are going to need to get a master's or a doctoral-level degree. But like I said, there is still a ton of other options and physics majors get paid very well after getting out of school. This is one of those degrees where you want to have a very clear idea of what careers interest you because there is not a clear path of which job you are going to get after you graduate.

If you get an engineering degree you are going to become an engineer, you get a physics degree there is a lot of other things you could potentially become. And getting a physics degree and expecting to become the next Elon Musk would be kind of like getting a theater degree and expecting to become the next Robert Downey jr.

8. Mechanical Engineering

• Median Pay: $87,370 per year
• $42.00 per hour

They help to design develop and build mechanical devices. This one probably is not going to surprise anyone but mechanical engineering is a really solid option on this list, and it is going to be the first of many different engineering degrees.

They also have a lot of job openings in this career and it is a very flexible degree where you can do a lot of different things with it, so overall this is a very solid choice 

7. Industrial Engineering

• Median Pay: $87,040 per year
• $41.84 per hour

They helped to create efficient systems within a business that integrates the worker as well as the information and the systems, all of that comes together to make a better product. This one is a valuable skill to have because it sort of combines engineering with entrepreneurship, and I see this one being even more valuable with automation as well as artificial intelligence coming down the line

This is also one of the fastest-growing engineering careers at about 8% growth which is really good for them, and this one barely edges out mechanical engineering on the rankings. Overall, this one is an amazing option, lots of jobs, lots of future opportunities as well, and I know there is a lot of engineering degrees on this list, but that is no mistake now 

6. Electrical Engineering And Computer Engineering

• Electrical Engineering
• Median Pay: $99.070 per year
• $47.63 per hour

• Computer Engineering
• $114,600 per year
• $55.10 per hour

I group these two together because Computer Engineering is technically a subset of Electrical Engineering, now, of course, Computer Engineering focuses more on designing and creating computer systems and electrical has a great salary at about $99.070 a year, but computer engineering has an even better salary.

Electrical Engineering

Computer Engineering

I think these are both fantastic options Electrical Engineering is a little bit more flexible you can get a lot of different types of jobs with that one, whereas Computer Engineering pays a lot more. And it is also a really good option because it is so easy to transition into maybe the best industry in the world which is the tech industry.

5. Chemical Engineering

• Median Pay: $104,910 per year
• $50.44 per hour

Chemical engineers apply the principles of biology, chemistry, physics, and mathematics, to make all kinds of different things from food to fuel. This one is not as flexible as a lot of the other ones on the list and it does not have as many job openings so you will likely have to move to wherever the opportunity is. But overall this is still a very solid choice 

4. Economics Degree

• Median Pay: $104,340 per year
• $50.16 per hour

I was surprised at how high this was on the list but it is a very solid option. If you want to purely become an economist you are probably going to have to get at least a master's degree, but there is a lot of other options out there for people who just opt for a four-year bachelor's.

This one also has some of the best statistics when it comes to starting your own business and becoming an entrepreneur. Overall, this is a very solid option for you especially if you don't want to go down the engineering route, and it is really hard to calculate exactly how much they make because many of them end up getting their masters or their doctorate and there is no way to differentiate with the data. But broadly speaking, this one paid very well.

3. Computer Science

• Median Pay: $109,020 per year
• $52.41 per year

This one was extremely difficult to rank, you could make a good argument that it is number one on the list but, there are just so many different options for you if you get a computer science degree. You can be a front-end engineer, you can be a back-end engineer, you can be a computer network architect, you can get a chill remote job where you are working on your code from anywhere in the world. A guy I know who's a computer network architect only works about ten to twenty hours a week and he makes over $300,000 a year, or you can go all-out move to Silicon Valley and go for jobs that pay over $500,000 a year, this one is also great if you want to start a business in the tech industry, there are honestly so many options out there that it is really difficult to rank this one.


You could easily rank at number one and at the end of the day it sort of does come down to your opinion, but overall this one is extremely solid.

2. Aerospace Engineering

• Median Pay: $115,220 per year
• $55.39 per hour

I think you can sort of guess what they do they design all sorts of different objects that fly through the air from satellites to drones to helicopters, spacecraft, etc. This one pays extremely well but there are not that many job openings and it is not as flexible as some of the other engineering degrees as well. So because of that you will likely have to move to a place where there are more opportunities for aerospace engineers.

If you are going into this one your competition is going to be really tough, you are going to be going against people who are geniuses, so you are going to have to work really hard. Overall this is a great option for the right person and it pays ridiculously well.

1. Petroleum Engineering

• Median Pay: $137,170 per year
• $65.95 per hour

You can probably guess what they do, they design methods of extracting oil and gas from deposits that are below the earth's surface. This is another one where the pay is amazing but there is not that much demand and chances are you are going to have to either move to a town in the middle of nowhere or you might even have to move out on to an oil rig in the middle of the ocean.

On top of that it is not as flexible as a lot of the other engineering degrees so if you don't want to work in the natural gas field, you are going to have a little bit more trouble transitioning into something else. Overall it is insane that they can make almost a $137,170 a year with just a four-year degree, and I want to just note here that the comparisons are not perfect because someone might go for an engineering degree for four years and then they end up becoming a computer programmer and there is just no way to differentiate all of that sort of thing in the data.





Alright. those are the top-paying college degree. Hopefully you got some valuable information.

This article is going to be about the top science degrees out there because there is a lot of misinformation. And specifically, I am going to go over a lot of the most popular ones. A lot of people think you can just get any science degree and you will be set for life. But the truth is, there are a lot of science degrees out there that are not that good and then there are some that are decent and then there are some that are really good. 

Just as a reminder, these articles are just my opinion based on my own life experience as well as the ton of research that I always do for this article. So always make sure to do your own research, do not just believe a stranger on the Internet.

10. Agriculture

• Early Career Pay: $45,000
• Mid-Career Pay: $77,400
• High Meaning: 60%

This one comes in with about 30,929 degrees awarded every single year. When most people think of agriculture they probably think of farmers and why would you need a degree to become a farmer. Well, there is a lot of other career paths for people that go into agriculture. A few examples would be lab work, government work, and product research and development.

When it comes to paying agriculture is decent, coming in at a starting pay of $45,000 a year for graduates and $77,400 after 10 years. It also has an above-average meaning score coming in at about 60%. There are many careers that this degree could lead to but one would be agriculture and food scientist 



This career pays decently well at $64,000 a year and has 35,600 jobs and will grow at 7% over the next 10 years. Overall these stats are decent but not great and that is why this one comes in at number ten on the list.

9. Forestry

• Early Career Pay: $44,200
• Mid-Career Pay: $76,000
• High Meaning: 63%

This one is basically tied with agriculture but I had to bring one of them higher than the other. Forestry is all about managing to conserve and repairing forests. The early career pay is slightly lower than the one we talked about earlier but, the mid-career pay is a little bit higher. The meaning does seem to be around the same at about 63%. One career you could do with forestry is a conservation scientist which gets paid around $61,000 a year there are about 32,000 jobs available and the growth rate is around 3% which is not that great
Overall this is another one that has decent stats but nothing amazing. And these are both niche selections, so there is a good chance that you will have to move somewhere in order to be able to establish your career. These two could be good for you if you really have a passion for it you should definitely go for it, but if you do not have a strong passion for it I would recommend that you probably give them a pass and try to go down a different road.

8. Biology

• Early Career Pay: $43,000
• Mid-Career Pay: $79,700
• High Meaning: 64%

This is a very popular major with 64,611 graduates a year. The starting pay is low at $43,000 a year and it is difficult to get a job. however, once you have established yourself the mid-career pay is $79,700 a year which is not too bad.

This is one of those careers where there are not that many people that are working as a biologist, but there is a ton of people graduating with a biology degree. I always tell people to be cautious when there is not a very clear path to whatever career you are pursuing with a degree that you are getting, and many people do end up going to graduate school because the employment outlook is not that good for people that graduate with a biology degree. And this is what happened to a good friend of mine she got her degree in biology because she was planning on going to medical school, later on, she decided she did not want to be a doctor but she was still stuck with the biology degree.

Finding a job was extremely difficult so she ended up going back to graduate school and getting her doctorate. This is a relatively saturated degree overall and I think it is another one that is overrated if I am being honest. But overall it can be a good one if you are smart about it and you have a really solid plan.

7. Neuroscience

• Early Career Pay: $46,000
• Mid-Career Pay: $87,100
• High Meaning: 59%

Neuroscience is the study of the brain and the nervous system for people and animals. This one is not as popular as some of the other majors on the list there is only around 3,062 degrees awarded per year, however, it does rank a lot better than the previous ones on the list when it comes to your salary. You make around $46,000 on average as a new grad and then $87,100 mid-career pay. The meaning is a little bit lower on this one at around 59% although that is still higher than the average for all professions.

This is another one that has the same problem where very few people who graduate with a neuroscience degree end up becoming a neuroscientist, and many of them also end up having to go back to school to get their masters or their doctorate or they end up working in a completely unrelated field. But overall it is another degree that is decent but not amazing and it is a little bit better than the other two options 

6. Food Science

• Early Career Pay: $49,300
• Mid-Career Pay: $91,600
• High Meaning: 43%

This one really surprised me and food science is basically what it sounds like it is the study of everything that has to do with food. There is only about 1,141 degrees awarded per year for this one so it is not as popular as a lot of the other ones, but the starting pay is around $49,300 a year and the mid-career pay is an impressive $91,600, however, the meaning score is low at about 43% and that is one of the lowest scores on the entire list because science degrees tend to have a higher meaning than most other types of degrees. One career you could get into is becoming an agricultural and food scientist.
The pay is $64,020 a year and there are 35,000 jobs with a 7% growth rate which is decent. This one is a niche, and what I mean by that is you will likely have to move somewhere in order to get a job. But overall this is actually a really decent choice and if you are obsessed with food it might be attractive to you

5. Chemistry Degree

• Early Career Pay: $48,400
• Mid-Career Pay: $92,500
• High Meaning: 55%

This is another one that is popular. There are about 12,941 graduates a year and this one is better than biology when it comes to the stats. You start off at about $48,400 a year and it gets up to $92,500 a year when you get to the mid-career pay. The meaning score is a bit above average at 55% but nothing special. One career path you could go down and become is a chemist and material scientist 
It pays around $78,330 a year which is good for a science-related profession that does not require you to get a doctorate. There are 95,800 jobs available and a 4% growth rate. Overall this one is clearly a lot better than biology when it comes to stats and it is another one that you really only want to do it if you are truly passionate about it because the money is not that amazing and your job prospects are kind of average.

4. Geology

• Early Career Pay: $47,700
• Mid-Career Pay: $89,000
• High Meaning: 53%

It is going to be the study of the Earth's physical structure as well as the processes that act on it such as rocks and minerals. there are about 4,334 geology degrees awarded every single year. The stats for geology are pretty good, you start off at about $47,700 a year and mid-career you will be making around $89,000, the meaning score is about 53% which is slightly above average. A lot of geologists actually end up going into the natural gas industry which tends to pay really well, one example of a job they could transition into is a geoscientist which pays $91,130 a year and has decent job growth
This is one of the better ones but you will likely have to move somewhere in order to get a really good job.

3. Biochemistry

• Early Career Pay: $47,000
• Mid-Career Pay: $93,400
• High Meaning: 59%

Biochemistry is basically what it sounds like it is a combination of biology and chemistry and there are 6,579 graduates a year. This one also has pretty good stats especially for a science degree, they start off at around $47,000 a year and after ten years they are making around $93,400 and it has a decent meaning score at 59%. This one is definitely a better option than biology and it is a slightly better option than chemistry.

There is more you can do with the degree and more opportunities out there which makes it more versatile and flexible, and you might even be able to find a job without having to move somewhere. Biochemistry is also a really good undergraduate degree for you if you want to transition into healthcare, let's say you want to become a doctor, physician assistant, nurse practitioner, or pharmacist, something along those lines. You might be able to get a job without having to go back to graduate school as well. If you are really passionate about chemistry but the stats scare you a little bit, you might want to consider going into chemical engineering.

2. Aeronautics/Aerospace Science

• Early Career Pay: $72,500
• Mid-Career Pay: $114,300
• High Meaning: 64%

This is one that a lot of people overlook but aerospace has over 2,718 graduates a year and the stats are good. This is basically where you study about anything that flies through the air, we are talking jets, airplanes, rockets, satellites. It has some of the best statistics out of the entire list starting at $72,500 a year and getting to $114,300 by mid-career which is excellent. It also has a good meaning score at 64%which is well average.

This is one where you will likely have to move somewhere in order to find a job but there are some really excellent opportunities there

1. Physics

• Early Career Pay: $60,700
• Mid-Career Pay: $113,100
• High Meaning: 48%

 There are over 5,265 graduates a year. The pay is really good it starts off around $60,700 a year and mid-career pay is going to be a $113,100, it does have a relatively low meaning score of 48 percent though which is below average.

This is one of the most well-respected degrees out there because it might be the hardest degree that you can get, you have to be smart and also a hard worker because you are going against the best of the best the smartest people out there, but because of how difficult it is a lot of companies like to hire physics majors even if it has nothing to do with what they learned in school. Many of them go on to become computer scientists, for instance, where companies value their unique skills, and this is a very versatile and flexible degree where you will definitely be able to get a job with just a four-year bachelor's degree.

I think the big thing about this one which is true for almost all of the science degrees is you really have to do your research because it is not extremely obvious what your future job is going to be, very few physics majors become physicists. Talk to professors and graduates about different careers out there and then just look them up and see if any of them appeal to you.





Hopefully, you find this article helpful