College Major Choice for Career Earnings

Editor’s introduction – This Career Stories Project intentionally avoids noting the earnings potential for any career path, for several reasons: (1) financial information could well be out of date the moment it is published; (2) pay for the same job may be vastly different depending on the location of the employment – e.g. New York City vs St. Louis vs New Orleans vs Omaha vs San Diego; (3) choosing a career should not be primarily based on projected earnings; if gathering money is your most important goal, you’ll never have enough to be happy. 

In a 9/20/19 New York Times article written by David Deming of the Kennedy School at Harvard University, it was reported that computer science and engineering majors earn an average of $61,744 directly out of college, compared to $45,032 for history and social science majors. 

But liberal-arts majors who graduated twenty years ago now average $131,154 annual income in careers like business, law, and management, compared to $124,458 for STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) majors. 

The story was slightly different for women: applied STEM graduates make 50 percent more than liberal-arts majors right out of college and 10 percent more by ages 38-40. 

What’s going on here?

First, technical skills that are ‘hot’ today can become obsolete as technology evolves. “Skill obsolescence and increased competition from younger graduates work together to lower the earnings advantage for STEM degree-holders as they age,” says Deming.

Second, at its best, a liberal-arts education prepares young people with “soft” skills like problem-solving, critical thinking, collaboration, and adaptability that may not land a high-paying first job but pay-off over time in a wide variety of careers.

“To be clear,” Deming concludes, “I am not suggesting that students should avoid majoring in STEM fields. STEM graduates still tend to have high earnings throughout their careers and most colleges require all students – including STEM majors – to take some liberal-arts courses. But I do think we should be wary of the impulse to make college curricula ever more technical, and career focused. Rapid technological change makes the case for breadth even stronger. A four-year college degree should prepare students for the next 40+ years of working life – and for a future that none of us can now imagine.”