Engineering Specialties Are Highest Paying College Degrees

The 10 college majors with the lowest unemployment rates

By Liz Goodwin, The Lookout, November 8, 2011

College students, take note: There are at least six fields of study whose graduates are virtually 100 percent employed right now. That's right--certain majors, such as pharmacology, produce graduates who face a zero percent unemployment rate.

That's not bad considering last month's joblessness rate for people with a college degree or higher was 4.4 percent.

The Wall Street Journal created an interactive tool where users can search for the average employment rate and median income of people who studied each major

[ http://graphicsweb.wsj.com/documents/NILF1111/ ]. The data comes from the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce, which released a similar ranking of majors in May that we wrote about here [ http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/study-reveals-10-highest-lowest-paying-college-majors-171104823.html;_ylt=Avc0lKjK27_qHYAJOzmBMoqZCMZ_;_ylu=X3oDMTFkZWgzYnZwBG1pdANCbG9nIEJvZHkEcG9zAzIEc2VjA01lZGlhQmxvZ0JvZHlBc3NlbWJseQ--;_ylg=X3oDMTM3YjQ3YWV0BGludGwDdXMEbGFuZwNlbi11cwRwc3RhaWQDODgwODBmNTUtOGEwNC0zMjM0LWE3YjUtN2MwMmI3YzViMTFkBHBzdGNhdANvcmlnaW5hbHN8dGhlbG9va291dARwdANzdG9yeXBhZ2U-;_ylv=3 ]. (Top ten and worst ten degrees listed below).

The Center's previous study found that graduates with engineering and science majors tend to earn significantly more many than graduates with other college majors. (A petroleum engineering major will make 300 percent more over his or her lifetime than a peer who majored in counseling psychology, for example.)

But narrowing the results down to only the employment rate yields a wider range of fields that provide excellent job security. People who majored in some lower paying fields, such as school counseling, face an almost nonexistent chance of being unempl0yed.

Check out the rest of the most employable majors, below.

Majors and their unemployment rate:1. Actuarial Science—0 percent
2. Astronomy and Astrophysics—0 percent
3. Educational Administration and Supervision—0 percent
4. Geological and Geophysical Engineering—0 percent
5. Pharmacology—0 percent
6. School Student Counseling—0 percent
7. Agricultural Economics—1.3 percent
8. Medical Technologies Technicians—1.4 percent
9.Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology—1.6 percent
10. Environmental Engineering, Nursing, and Nuclear Industrial Radiology and Biological Technologies—2.2 percent

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/10-college-majors-lowest-unemployment-rates-163049193.html

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Ten highest and lowest earning degrees in USA according to the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce at the link above):

Highest earnings:

Petroleum engineering
Pharmacy, Pharmacological Services and Administration
Mathematics and Computer Science
Aerospace engineering
Chemical engineering
Electrical engineering
Naval architecture and marine engineering
Mechanical engineering
Metallurgical engineering
Mining and mineral engineering

Lowest earnings:

Counseling Psychology
Early Childhood education
Theology and Religious Vocations
Human Services and Community Organization
Social Work
Drama and Theater Arts
Studio Arts
Communication Disorders Science and Service
Visual and Performing Arts
Health and Medical Preparatory Programs