Although most have been informed that college is a must for anyone, many don’t realize how important it is to look into the best degrees to make money.
If you can plan ahead, you’ll fall into a career that could leave you making over a hundred thousand dollars a year starting out.
These are the top degrees that pay well, and how you can learn your way into a rewarding career with any of them.
15. Engineering Mechanics
Average yearly salary: $93,000
Jobs with this degree: aerospace engineer, sales engineer, senior mechanical engineer
What you’ll learn about: to gain this degree, you’ll have to study physics to apply Newton’s laws of motion to real-life problems you’ll face in your career. Your professors will also help you learn how to analyze, design, and build structures and machines.
The jobs available to you will be extremely similar to jobs with a physics degree, as they study many of the same concepts.
14. Petroleum Engineering
Average yearly salary: $94,000
Jobs with this degree: completion engineer, drilling engineer, production engineer
What you’ll learn about: for a Petroleum Engineering degree, you’ll take basic engineering courses and then move on to whichever specialized classes you’re interested in.
These courses range from geology to well drilling, fluid flow, reservoir fluids, petroleum production, and reservoir analysis. This is one of the best paying degrees of its type, especially if you learn negotiate job offers.
Perks of Petroleum Engineering
- Job Opportunities – Jobs in this field reflect oil prices and are expected to continue growin
- Working in a Hot Topic – Natural fuel is a hot topic that is good to have insight on in modern time
- The Ability to Travel for Work – In this role, you can work in many major states and enjoy travel
- Intellectually Engaging Work – You’ll never get bored in this still-evolving field
13. Materials Science
Average yearly salary: $94,000
Jobs with this degree: analytical chemist (also a great way to make money with a biochemistry degree), biomedical engineer, geotechnical engineer
What you’ll learn about: to gain a bachelor’s degree in engineering and materials science, you’ll have to show you understand how to apply advanced engineering and science principles to varied materials like metals, ceramics, or glass so that you can develop new or better products.
This is an interdisciplinary field that requires an understanding of various areas of engineering and science.
12. Computer Science
Average yearly salary: $96,000
Jobs with this degree: software developer, web developer, user interface designer
What you’ll learn about: computer science courses help you thoroughly understand calculus, and other relevant math courses, alongside the theories, operating systems, programming languages, and data structures you’ll need to know to succeed.
This is an incredibly information-dense degree, and at times the most important thing you can learn is how to research and find answers to problems.
Check out these top side jobs for software engineers and computer science majors if you’re not ready for full-time career quite yet.
Trend on the Rise
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average job market grows around 7% per ten years, yet computer science is expected to grow by 22% between 2020 and 2030. This degree offers tons of jobs that are quick to hire and pay well right out of the gate.
11. Mechanical Engineering
Average yearly salary: $96,000
Jobs with this degree: automotive engineer, maintenance engineer, construction engineer
What you’ll learn about: in the course of getting this degree, you’ll learn about energy and motion, as well as thermal, solid, and fluid mechanics.
In a mix of lab work and information studying, you’ll have to develop problem-solving skills so that you can design and evaluate products while you work with them.
You can even supplement your income with one of these best paying side gigs for mechanical engineers.
10. Materials Engineering and Materials Science
Average yearly salary: $97,500
Jobs with this degree: manufacturing systems engineer, management consultant, higher education lecturer
What you’ll learn about: if you want a thorough understanding of multiple disciplines, this is the best degree you’ll find.
Not only will you learn about scientific structures, properties, and processes, but you’ll also learn about the performance of materials.
Through this degree, you can pick classes and modules that relate specifically to what interests you and what you’ll want to pursue as a career.
Tactic for Success
A large part of the job in materials engineering is confidence and commercial awareness. Work on being both convincing and confident when stating your findings, and you’ll be able to succeed in this job market.
9. Health and Medical Preparatory Programs
Average yearly salary: $98,000
Jobs with this degree: medical assistant, pharmacist technician, certified physician assistant
What you’ll learn about: through your education, you’ll be prepared for admission to a professional program in dentistry, medicine, occupational therapy, optometry, or physical therapy.
Although this doesn’t prepare you for these careers entirely, it gives you an open the door to tons of opportunities.
You don’t need to pursue further education to score roles as a pharmacist technician or medical assistant!
8. Nuclear Engineering
Average yearly salary: $100,000
Jobs with this degree: atomic process engineer, nuclear radiation engineer, reactor engineer
What you’ll learn about: to gain a nuclear engineering degree, you’ll learn the fundamentals of nuclear processes. This includes their production, interactions, and how to take and assess radiation measurements.
Along the way, you’ll learn the social, energy, health, and security impacts this career makes.
7. Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering
Average yearly salary: $100,000
Jobs with this degree: naval architect, marine engineer, civil engineer
What you’ll learn about: the main focus of this degree is to get you ready to understand and be able to communicate and work with statistics, probability, fluid mechanics, engineering design, and fluid dynamics at the system level.
This is a rigorous program that requires you to understand many different fields.
6. Metallurgical Engineering
Average yearly salary: $100,000
Jobs with this degree: research and development engineer, materials engineer, mechanical engineer
What you’ll learn about: related to naval architecture and marine engineering, metallurgical engineering needs you to understand probability and statistics, along with fluid mechanics and dynamics: but also requires you to get to know energy and propulsion systems and the instrumentation appropriate to naval architecture.
Trend on the Rise
Careers based on this degree are expected to grow by eight percent between 2020 to 2030! Since there are 1,800 new openings for materials engineers every year, there’s plenty of room for you to find the perfect role for yourself.
5. Chemical Engineering
Average yearly salary: $100,000
Jobs with this degree: chemical process engineer, environmental engineer, petroleum engineer
What you’ll learn about: when earning a chemical engineering degree, you’ll cover everything from mass and heat transfer to fluid dynamics, thermodynamics, plant design, process economics, process systems, process analysis, and process operations.
You’ll need to be efficient in both science and math while also being a skilled problem solver.
4. Aerospace Engineering
Average yearly salary: $100,000
Jobs with this degree: military aerospace engineer, aerospace technician, aircraft designer
What you’ll learn about: if you love math and science, aren’t shy about computer programming and languages, and are interested in physics and chemistry, this education could be the perfect combination for you.
Not only does it offer extremely in-depth looks at everything from aircraft design to space systems, but it also helps give you the tools to create new ones.
Where Aerospace Engineering is Growing
- California – There are 7,860 aerospace engineering jobs in California
- Texas – There are 5,510 aerospace engineering jobs in Texas
- Florida – There are 4,640 aerospace engineering jobs in Florida
- Washington – There are 4,110 aerospace engineering jobs in Washington
- Alabama– There are 3,860 aerospace engineering jobs in Alabama
3. Pharmacy
Average yearly salary: $101,000
Jobs with this degree: community pharmacist, hospital pharmacist, locum pharmacist
What you’ll learn about: to gain a pharmacy degree, you’ll have to learn about chemistry, pharmaceutics, human physiology and biology, and pharmacology.
This walks you through how medicine is made and how drugs interact with the body.
Tactic for Success
Any mistake in this role can lead to serious medical injury: because of this, it’s vital that you have an eye for detail, that you can take responsibility for mistakes, and that you’re honest and forthcoming.
2. Computer Engineering
Average yearly salary: $101,000
Jobs with this degree: computer network architect, blockchain developer, software developer
What you’ll learn about: to gain a computer engineering degree, you’ll learn about engineering, mathematics, and computer sciences so that you can find and recognize problems and then create solutions for digital systems.
This will require a thorough understanding of everything from software to electronic circuits and microprocessors.
1. Electrical Engineering
Average yearly salary: $107,000
Jobs with this degree: software engineer, electronics design engineer, hardware design engineer
What you’ll learn about: to gain this degree, you’ll have to study the development, design, testing, and supervision of every part of creating electrical equipment, systems, and devices like motors and communication equipment.
This requires a strong background in math and science, especially physics, to succeed.
Wrapping Up
When preparing to invest the tens of thousands of dollars you have to for college: you must have a good goal in mind.
Aim for one of these degrees, and you won’t have to worry about money from the moment you score your first job!
Erin is a business teacher and mother of three. When she’s not in the classroom or fulfilling her obligations as an A+ hockey and lacrosse mom, she’s working on her latest article.
