The Highest Paying Majors (and Schools)

GRADUATES FROM HARVEY MUDD AND MILITARY SCHOOLS MAKE THE MOST

U.S. Naval Academy

Of course, majors are only one part of the equation. Graduates from some schools also earn more than others according to PayScale’s data. Last year, Harvey Mudd College, a private liberal arts program in Claremont, California, ranked as the top program for mid-career pay at $133,800. This year, it has been replaced by the State University of New York (SUNY) Maritime College, located in the Bronx. Although the program offers degrees in areas like engineering and general business, its strength is nautical coursework that prepare students to become merchant marine officers. Here, students gross $134,000 by mid-career, just a shade above Harvey Mudd, which fell to $133,000. However, both programs rank above Ivy League power Harvard and the storied U.S. Naval Academy, whose graduates make $126,000 each. The California Institute of Technology, a STEM citadel and the setting for The Big Bang Theory, rounds out the Top five with students earning $125,000.

Among early career earnings, Harvey Mudd – which maintains a low 9:1 student-to-faculty ratio to complement its strengths in biological sciences, engineering, and mathematics – also ranks second with students making a $78,200 median to start. They were outpaced, however, by the U.S. Military Academy in West Point, whose grads make $78,500 after graduation. They were followed by the U.S. Naval Academy ($78,200), the Massachusetts Institute of Technology ($74,900), and Cal Tech ($72,600).

Surprisingly, all three U.S. military academies – Army, Navy, and Air Force – ranked in the top six for early career pay (and the top 15 at mid-career pay). Private schools also tended to yield the highest earnings. At mid-career, 15 of the top 20 median earners attended private schools (That ratio is 13 of 20 at early career). Despite the STEM hype, just seven of the 20 schools where students earned the most by mid-career gave out 50% or more of their degrees in STEM fields. In other words, the liberal arts are alive and well – with a caveat. Among the schools with the highest early career earnings by graduates, 14 were STEM schools.

Wondering which schools produce the biggest income growth between early and mid-career? Among the 20 highest-paying schools, that would be Washington & Lee, a private school in Lexington, Virginia with 2,000 students. Here, incomes doubled from $54,700 to start to $120,000. Other Top 20 programs (income-wise) where pay doubled include the SUNY Maritime College $65,200 to $134,000), Harvard ($61,400 to $126,000), Colgate University ($53,700 to $115,000), and Tufts University ($54,200 to $115,000).

To see the highest-paying school alumni at early and mid-career, go to the next page.