Deciding on a degree is a difficult choice.
Although following your passions might be the most sensible, there’s only so many
vacancies for football stars, astronauts, movies stars, and models.
So getting practical might be the way forward.
And if you’re being practical you better start about thinking about the money too.
Because, what’s more practical than having enough cash to pay your bills, What degree
has the graduate walking away from academia and landing a high paying job?
In what subjects do the big dollars lay?
That’s what we will try to find out in today’s Infographics Show as we look at– These degrees
will make you the most money.
So today we’re looking at five degrees that could have you paying back those fees and
putting a dent in the student loan in a matter of months.
In the United States there are more than 4500 colleges with programs that vary wildly in
cost.
The cost of getting a degree is based not only on the tuition fees and the expenses
students pay on living, rent, books, transportation etc – there are numerous other costs.
Some degree programs are free, some are sponsored by grants, and others accept students on a
non-profit basis.
Getting a degree will probably cost you anywhere in the range of $0 up to $55,000 and maybe
much more when you factor in living costs.
Today we’re are looking at five degree programs that should see you getting back that outlay
within the first year of employment.
First up and potentially the most lucrative of our five degrees is Petroleum engineering.
With an average starting pay of $108,000 this industry is a sure way to start earning big
fast.
Petroleum engineering relates to the production of hydrocarbons, namely crude oil or natural
gas.
Once oil and gas exploration has taken place it needs to be extracted from the source and
refined into a usable energy source.
That’s where petroleum engineers come in.
Petroleum engineering focuses requires an in-depth understanding of oil, water and gas
within porous rock at high pressure.
Graduates of a 4 year degree in petroleum engineering will need a solid understanding
of math and science and be prepared to work in far flung places.
Oil and gas workers can be offshore for months working on drilling rigs, refineries, and
pipelines.
After 10 or 12 years a petroleum engineering expert can expect to almost double that salary
earning up to $185,000 per year making this the most lucrative career path on our list.
Next up on our list is computer engineering.
Graduates in this field can expect to earn up to $70,000.
This should reach $100,000 in 7 to 9 years.
But that’s just as a salary man.
Bill Gates and the Steve Jobs built financial empires in this field so with this piece of
paper the world’s your oyster.
In fact, both Jobs and Gates dropped out of college and made a fortune without a degree.
But let’s stick with the traditional route for the purpose of this episode.
A good understanding of electronics, software, and hardware are required to excel in this
subject.
You need to know how things work and what happens when you put them together.
Simple, huh?
Well, if integrating several fields of computer science and electronic engineering to develop
hardware and software is what you excel in, then computer engineering is the course for
you.
You just require a high-tech mode of thinking and the ability to design hard and software
as and when required.
After ten years of high-tech problem solving you might expect to make $115,000 a year and
that student loan will be just a distant memory.
Economics graduates can expect to start on around $55,000.
A four year degree studying the history, social-economic, and political relationships between people
and finance could result in you making some serious money for yourself.
Economists are required to look at the history and trends of financial behavior and predict
upcoming trends.
If the behavior and interactions of economic agents, including individuals and financial
markets, keeps you awake at night, this is the degree program for you.
And don’t worry if your financial predictions are wrong, most economists get it wrong some,
or even most of the time.
After 10 years in this field you can expect to make $125,000 as an analyst for a private
corporation.
You would probably find a safe and secure job working for a large international bank.
Just keep an eye out for sub-prime mortgage loans being sold as triple A bonds.
Chemical engineering students can expect to start on around $70,000 reaching to about
$100,000 in 10 to 12 years.
Graduates in this industry might not necessarily be limited to a laboratory environment.
They might find themselves working in green industries, food manufacturing, medicine or
garden architecture.
A fondness for the way elements work together in the world will help you tackle this subject.
So if you enjoyed accidentally setting fire to the science work-bench at school this may
be the route for you to take at university.
A good start is to learn the periodic table and start to make compounds in your head or
in a notebook.
But you will need to up the game in class.
Chemical engineering uses not only chemistry but also physics, mathematics, and economics
to use, produce, transform, and transport chemicals, raw material, living cells, microorganisms
and energy.
Engineers in this field get heavily involved with chemical plant design and operations.
A chemical engineer might find him or herself rubbing shoulders with the petroleum engineer
at a refinery plant.
They may even share advice on the best high rate saving schemes, or compare sports cars.
Applied mathematics degree holders can expect to make $64,700 a year.
A good knowledge of math enables the student to solve problems that might save a company.
After 10 years working with numbers you might be expected to make $100,000.
Like the other subjects on our list this one is rather difficult if you don’t have a
flair for it.
Applied mathematics is the application of mathematical methods into different fields
such as science, business, engineering, travel and computer industries.
While careers in mathematics are wide they all boil down to one core element – problem
solving.
As an applied mathematician you may be tasked with solving the following quandary: How can
an airline use more intelligent scheduling programs to reduce costs and maximize profits?
You will sit down and crack that puzzle and make your employer a stack of extra cash in
the process.
So there we have out top five degrees for making money.
Remember, these degrees aren’t guaranteed to make you rich but armed with them you have
a good chance of landing that important first job.
Success in a career cannot be boiled down to a piece of paper, but with a good qualification
we can get a head start in the race.
Along with that qualification you will need social skills, a sense of morals and ethics,
good personal hygiene, and a visible sense of enthusiasm.
But is that all you need?
What do you think the best money-making degree is?
Do we even need to go to college to be successful?
What are the pros and cons of spending four years studying?
Be sure to let us know in the comments section below.
Also, be sure to watch our other video called – Surprisingly High Paying Jobs?
Thanks for watching, and as always, don't forget to like, share and subscribe, and as
ever, see you next time.