Which common college majors have the highest earning potential?

Business is by far the most common undergraduate major. As of 2022, around 8.5 million adults working full-time had a bachelor's degree in a business-related field, while 2.9 million of them also earned some kind of postgraduate degree in the field, such as a master's degree in business or accounting.

Common jobs for business majors include accountants, who make a median income of $80,000 yearly; financial analysts, who make around $100,000; and market researchers, who take home about $75,000, per BLS data.

Engineering and education were the next most common fields for full-time workers, with around 4.5 million graduates each.

In most fields, bachelor's degrees tend to be more common than postgraduate degrees, but life science is an exception to that rule.

In 2022, there were 1.7 million full-time American workers with both a life science undergraduate degree and at least some kind of postgraduate degree, but only 1.1 million workers with just a bachelor's degree in the field.

Many research jobs require a postgraduate degree, and biology is a common major for doctors. Biochemists and biophysicists, who earn a median salary of $107,460 annually, can get entry-level jobs with a bachelor's degree but tend to need an advanced degree as well.

Not surprisingly, workers with postgraduate degrees typically earn more than those with only bachelor's degrees. The highest earners with a bachelor's degree tend to be engineering and computer science majors, with median annual salaries of $96,000 and $91,000, respectively. By comparison, a postgraduate degree boosts their annual earnings to $127,000 and $120,000, respectively.

In some fields, there's a significant difference in earnings between workers holding undergraduate and postgraduate degrees. Communications majors with an advanced degree earn a median salary of $107,000 a year, nearly double that of their peers holding just a bachelor's degree.

In recent years, increased awareness about the burden of high-interest student loan debt has challenged the value of a college education. The average U.S. household with bachelor's degree debt owes $29,100, while households with graduate school debt owe over double that amount, with an average of $77,300, according to a 2023 Nerdwallet study.

The New York Fed found that the return on investment for college graduates has fallen slightly in recent years due to increasing costs. The College Board found that four-year college costs amount to around $20,000 yearly at public schools with in-state tuition and $35,000 a year at private schools after accounting for financial aid.

For many prospective students, college can be an expensive proposition. In a shift from the last decade, some employers that once considered a four-year degree a vital requirement no longer do. And, in recent years, wages for many lower-paid jobs are catching up to office jobs that require a college education. However, for some, especially those with an academic aptitude, earning a degree can still make financial sense.

Story editing by Alizah Salario. Copy editing by Kristen Wegrzyn.