Comments
Engineering degrees are the surest route to well-paid jobs in the US, according to the New York Federal Reserve’s latest study of pay by college major for recent graduates.
Out of the top ten subjects that deliver the highest early-career pay, nine are in some form of engineering, with computer, aerospace and chemical engineering in the lead, according to the New York Fed’s data. The top five most remunerative degrees led to median earnings by mid-career of $1,08,000 a year.
Compared with the 2020 version of the survey, the biggest increase in early-career pay for recent grads came in Public Policy, where median salaries rose to $50,000 from $38,000 a year earlier. Pharmacy majors also saw a gain of $5,000. And Art History majors saw the biggest bump in mid-career earnings – possibly because the pandemic shut down many museums, leaving a smaller pool of more experienced staff.
Covid impact
Another result of Covid-19 has been historically low unemployment rates for the holders of certain in-demand qualifications.
The US has seen a sharp drop in college enrollments in the two years since Covid-19 arrived, but the New York Fed study found that the pay premium for graduates was bigger than ever last year, at least in dollar terms. (The research doesn’t cover the cost of college, including debt interest payments.)
The gap in median earnings between holders of bachelor’s degrees and high-school graduates rose to a record $22,000. That’s despite other data showing that pay for high-school graduates has been rising at the fastest rate in 20 years, outpacing the earnings of more educated workers.
Even college degree holders at the 25th percentile – meaning they earn less than three-quarters of their peers – had a record $8,000-a-year pay advantage over high-school grads. And for college graduates at the 75th percentile, earnings were twice as high.
The New York Fed study defines recent graduates as those aged between 22 and 27 with a bachelor’s degree only. The numbers are for full-time workers and exclude those who are currently enrolled in a school.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.