Your Source for NPR News & Music
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations

Graduating Engineers Top Median Earnings List

RENEE MONTAGNE, HOST:

And today's last word in business is: Put down the novels. Pick up the calculator.

You can add the Census Bureau to the chorus subtly - not so subtly -discouraging this year's freshmen from declaring liberal arts as a major.

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

At least that's the case if you were thinking that a liberal arts degree would make you a lot of money. In a Census Bureau report released yesterday, it tallied up the median earnings for different bachelor degree holders. Topping the list is engineering. Engineers make an average of $92,000 per year. Some other majors are at the lower side of the list: education, fine and visual arts, communications. They all earn an average of $50,000 or $60,000 per year. And if you find that discrepancy troubling, you might try psychology, which could help you, but it doesn't earn very much either.

Business majors, it turns out, are just ahead, at a median of $66,000 a year. So they're not doing so well either, Steve.

But they're doing - they're not doing it for the money.

(SOUNDBITE OF MUSIC)

MONTAGNE: Yeah. The experience. Business news from MORNING EDITION on NPR News. I'm Renee Montagne.

INSKEEP: And I'm Steve Inskeep. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

NPR transcripts are created on a rush deadline by an NPR contractor. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of NPR’s programming is the audio record.

Related Stories