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New Report Shows Engineering Degrees Have Highest Earning Power

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New Report Shows Engineering Degrees Have Highest Earning Power

July 16, 2010
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Engineering degrees comprise four of the five highest paid majors among the college class of 2010, according to a new study.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers Summer 2010 Salary Survey shows that petroleum engineers earned the highest starting salary offer -- $74,799 -- followed by chemical engineers, who can expect to be offered an average of $65,628.

The only non-engineering degree to make the top five was computer science, which placed third with an average starting salary offer of $61,112.

The other majors in the top five were computer engineering at $59,917 and electrical/electronics engineering at $59,381.

wage table
Engineering graduates still command high starting salaries, but only chemical engineers saw an increase in the last year.

Although salaries remain high, this recently announced round of averages saw a decline for all engineering majors except chemical engineering.

The average offer to chemical engineers increased 1.1 percent in the last year, but the average offer to petroleum engineers fell 10 percent compared to July 2009. 

Losses were smaller for graduates in computer science, which saw a half-percent dip; computer engineering, which tumbled by 2.9 percent; and electrical/electronics engineering, which sagged 1.2 percent.

“Those high starting salary offers reflect the uneven supply and demand that exists for these graduates, even in the current economy,” said Marilyn Mackes, NACE executive director.

In fact, according to the National Center for Education Statistics, all engineering degrees accounted for just 5.4 percent of the 1,563,069 bachelor’s degrees conferred in 2008, the most recent year for which data are available. Only 521 bachelor’s degrees were conferred in petroleum engineering, or 0.03 percent of the total.

“All of the top five earners are in short supply,” Mackes said. “Each accounts for less than 1 percent of the degrees granted.”