Most lucrative college degrees
 

I hate sitting at a desk all day but it allows me to live the lifestyle that I do.


http://money.cnn.com/2009/07/24/news...ion=2009072404

http://i2.cdn.turner.com/money/2009/...ng_degrees.gif

It sure as hell isn't journalism. That is a fact.

Those are strong numbers to start at.

Are those avg salaries or what the degree costs? I suppose i slot in well if those are salaries, dammit, and i was going to ask for a raise...

those are average starting salaries.

I am seeing a trend here...

I'm surprised a degree in pharmacy wasn't on there. It seemed like the average starting for them was in the $75k range 10 years ago.

I think they are just talking about 4 year degrees. Because I know attorneys and doctors make more than that so I'm sure Pharmacy, MBA's and other advanced degrees start higher.

I think pharmacy is 5 yrs, PA is 4 yrs and is still a BS (many programs are moving o a masters degree) Last I checked out avg starting salaries is around 70 or 75 as well.

Tom

I guess that is it. I think in the late 90s you could just get a Bachelors in pharmacy to work as a pharmacist. It seems now you need the PharmD.

I think it was 5 yrs then too. When I first graduated I started in St johns pharmacy program then switched to pre med then was asked not to come back :lol:

Tom

Not sure if it varies by state, but I've heard of people being 6 and 8 year pharm programs. Now maybe they needed 8 years to finish a 5 year degree but :idk:

It could be now for all I know. My fiancees sis in law is a pharmacist, I could ask her but that would require me talking to her and I try to avoid doing that whenever possible :lol:

Tom

Gee... look Petro industry... SURPRISE!

What did surprise me is at these construction sites, what some of the tradesmen make. Some trades are up over 70 bucks an hr. then again its a tough life beteween the work they do and its not always steady work.

Tom

I'm a ChemE, and yes the money is good.......if you can find a job! I'm lucky to be where I'm at, but decent ChemE jobs are hard to find, especially in a good location.

Shit makes me want to go back to school...

Not me. Those jobs dont make enough money to make me want to go back. I'll keep my job, pays better than them anyway!

I know a girl getting her Pharmacy degree and it's 6years in Georgia. PA (Physicians Assistant?) is a 4year degree and they make crazy money. My buddy's wife is a Medical Assistant (or something like that) and her doctor has a 22year old girl working there who makes $150k a year as a Physicians Assistant.

My buddy's gf is getting her masters I think for Occupational Therapist. When my buddy got into a car wreck he had one come in and she just made him walk his fingers up the wall for his shoulder and then saw on his bill he was charged out the ass for it. It pissed him off but made him happy at the same time.

My buddy's GF is also friends of a bunch of pharmacy students since she goes to the Medical College of Georgia and he got to hang out with a bunch of pharmacy graduates. He said they were all as dumb as bricks, hot, and making $100k+ at low-mid 20s years of age and they confessed that the Pharmacy Techs do all of the real work.

Her brother is fixing to start residency/internship and qualified to become a resident in any field he wants to do. He's shooting for Neuroscience but is scared about government healthcare and might become a plastic surgeon.

My friend is a Mechanical Engineer and started at 55k and is now making around 60k before taxes.

The rates for building trades that you're referring to are the 'billing' rates, company to company. The actual tradesmen make MUCH less than that - unless they're working for themselves. It is a tough life and not particularly steady work, but its very satisfying (more so than IT/IS/Telecom "geek" work). Fuck desk jobs, they all suck. redflip

Very true. I work for a sub of AT&T and often do "flagging" which is a shitty job but allows me to go to school. Anyways my company charges AT&T $50 an hour per flagger (there are always two) and $75 an hour for the truck (F-150). So it's $175 per crew an hour but the average flagger only makes $10 an hour.

I noticed that too. I guess I should have stuck it out with ChemE way back. Oh well, I could in a few years have a bachelor's in Industrial or Mech. Just finished my 2-year in Mfg. Eng. Tech. so I'm on the right path.

The original article was to show that most of the top-paying jobs have a strong math background.

Yes but a major in math alone won't get you very far aside from being a college professor. Not that there is anything wrong with that but the starting salary is probably not one of the best out there.

Im an OE (ocean engineer) and ever since the oil bubble burst its been tougher for recent grads to find jobs because the oil industry was a big employer. OE isnt on the list but for those of us who did find jobs Id say it would be number 6 or 7.

Chem, petroleum, and electrical are some of the toughest engineering majors in my opinion which is why they have higher salaries but theyre also specialized. I wouldnt be surprised if new petro engineers were having a hard time getting work right now. Most other engineering majors like aerospace, mechanical, and systems are more general.

You'd make more working the assembly line for GM or Ford.

Which probably has nothing to do with the current state of the auto industry.

They should have another stat posted beside this one showing the availability of jobs in the same fields.

We have 12 open reqs in my department. I think we are expecting to add 300 engineers facility wide by 2011. FYI our facility is about 1200 people currently.

But of course not.

Come on. 9-13years of schooling owns 20years of schooling any day of the week.

In my field many folks have math degrees. My undergrad degrees are math and computer science and my grad degree is math. The only time I taught a class was as a guest lecturer for mathematical finance class.

I truly believe that the purpose of the article was to say that any degree that is going to pay well (at the start) requires you to be strong in math rather than to be particular about the degrees in the list.

Also, it basically points out most kids going to college suck at math and shy away from difficult engineering degrees.

From the article:

"Math is at the crux of who gets paid," said Ed Koc, director of research at NACE. "If you have those skills, you are an extremely valuable asset. We don't generate enough people like that in this country."

Top non-engineering fields. Only three of the 15 top paying degrees were outside the field of engineering -- but they each still require math skills.

.......

How many times have you heard in your high school algebra classes, "When am I ever going to use this in the real world?" :skep:

yeah, if you can get a job right now. My brother graduated in may with a bachelors in electrical engineering and still can't find a job. on another note, a guy graduated from our house a year ago as the highest paid grad from the school with a bachelor's in petroleum engineering. after his signing bonus, he said he was going to make 120,000 his first year.

^ key word 'said', lol

Even if "said" is true, how much that the guy will be in major debt in a few years. My buddies who graduated college and got decent jobs making $55k+ are already in major debt. New cars, crazy trips, and blowing money like it's their parents college money.

Haha. Don't people get degrees in fields they want to do? Instead of something that will make them a ton of money. You wouldn't believe how many people I've met that used to be lawyers, but got out because it was too crazy.

Most college grads I know go in for Aerospace engineering and come out with a Business and Management degree and run/wait the local Ruby Tuesday.

This is definitely what people should do, but doesn't always work out for everyone for a variety of reasons. And it's funny you use the lawyer example because a buddy of mine, a former lawyer, got out and bought 4 dunkin donut stores and he is much happier.

Because they suck at math. When I was busting my ass doing homework and design projects and sitting in classes with a ratio of 1 girl for every 10 guys I used to joke that business majors have it made. :lol:

I remember at my buddy's graduation at GA Southern they had an entire football field packed with students. They had each major stand up. They had the nursing majors stand up and maybe a 100people stood up. Then they called the Mechanical Engineering and Tech and there were 15 (my friend was one of them) and then 3/4 of the field stood up when they called the Business majors.

One of his buddies who was a business major went up to him and said "I'm taking Calculus" (actually it was Business Calculus) and my buddy looked at the book and laughed. He told him that was basically the first two chapters of his Cal.

But that's why my buddy is 24 bringing in $60k a year designing weapon training systems for militaries and law enforcement agencies while that guy is well, driving a bread truck.

I got a degree in a field I wanted to work in. My BA is in Communications/Journalism. I spent 4 years in Television news as a photojournalist. It was fun...mostly. Then the economy and business went to shit. People, not me luckily, got laid off. We took pay cuts...from an already shitty salary. Started becoming a "run and gun" shop. Story telling took a back seat to bullshit coverage.

So I got out. Took a government job. While not nearly as intersting as news, the work is a billion times easier. And pays better. jacko Oh yeah, it's Gov't work.