The "Most Valuable"/"Least Valuable" College Majors

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A new study found graduates with degrees in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math typically earn a lot more and are less likely to be unemployed, according to Bankrate .

Bankrate analyzed majors with labor forces over 15,000 people and factored in how many people in each group received a graduate degree such as a master's or a doctorate.


The most valuable college majors include naval architecture marine and nuclear engineering and pharmaceutical sciences. The top 10 most valued college majors are:

Naval Architecture And Marine Engineering (Median income: $90,000; Unemployment rate: 1.6 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 29 percent)

Nuclear Engineering (Median income: $98,100; Unemployment rate: 1.8 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 56 percent)

Pharmacy Pharmaceutical Sciences And Administration (Median income: $100,000; Unemployment rate: 2.2 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 58 percent)

Genetics (Median income: $85,000; Unemployment rate: 1.2 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 76 percent)

Electrical Engineering (Median income: $99,000; Unemployment rate: 2.7 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 46 percent)

Architectural Engineering (Median income: $74,000; Unemployment rate: 1.5 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 29 percent)

Aerospace Engineering (Median income: $90,000; Unemployment rate: 2.3 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 49 percent)

Computer Engineering (Median income: $92,000; Unemployment rate: 2.8 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 40 percent)

Electrical Engineering Technology (Median income: $76,000; Unemployment rate: 1.8 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 30 percent)

Materials Science (Median income: $90,000; Unemployment rate: 2 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 66 percent)


The least valuable degrees in terms of making a living were drama and theater arts. The 10 least valued college majors are (in order of worse to worst):

Communication Technologies (Median income: $40,000; Unemployment rate: 4.9 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 11 percent)

Cosmetology Services And Culinary Arts (Median income: $35,000; Unemployment rate: 3.3 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 12 percent)

Mass Media (Median income: $40,000; Unemployment rate: 6 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 16 percent)

Music (Median income: $36,000; Unemployment rate: 3.1 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 42 percent)

Miscellaneous Fine Arts (Median income: $38,000; Unemployment rate: 5.7 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 20 percent)

Film Video And Photographic Arts (Median income: $37,000; Unemployment rate: 6.5 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 15 percent)

Fine Arts (Median income: $37,000; Unemployment rate: 4.8 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 24 percent)

Linguistics And Comparative Language And Literature (Median income: $40,000; Unemployment rate: 3.9 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 45 percent)

Composition And Rhetoric (Median income: $37,800; Unemployment rate: 4.4 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 29 percent)

Visual And Performing Arts (Median income: $32,000; Unemployment rate: 4.1 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 23 percent)

Drama And Theater Arts (Median income: $35,500; Unemployment rate: 5.2 percent, Percent with an advanced degree: 26 percent)

Source: What are the 'most valuable' college majors?

No wonder some members of the arsty-craftsy crowd want to declare any form of "Art" as an application of STEM skills -- some even want to abolish the acronym "STEM" (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) from school curricula and replace it with "STEAM" (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Mathematics) -- they're trying to steal someone else's credibility!

My major is never on the "most valuable" majors list, but I never see it on the "least valuable" lists either. I'd settle for the median income on the latter list. Instead, I can only get jobs that pay a little more than minimum wage (and I have a master's!).

My major (Economics) is on neither list but the only offers I got after graduating paid LESS than my retail job ($20,000/yr). Meanwhile, the major that according to my parents and employment counsellors is for "dropouts" (Electrical Engineering Technology) is one I was very interested in but my parents refused to allow me to go for it at the time. I couldn't even imagine making $76,000 even with my 3 College and University degrees.

When going gets tough in society the skills and abilities most in demand will be those that are essential in providing for other people and keeping society going. A college/university qualification is only as useful as what you can do with it.

I used to work with a bloke who was fascinating to talk to, he is in his 50's, had a PhD in French Literature, works in a hospital in an unskilled role making minimum wage. His PhD is completely useless in the job market. That being said he was a lot more interesting to have lunch with that some of my other colleagues!

Huh? What kind of a nut would say that electrical engineering is for dropouts?

The kind of “nut” who thinks accounting/economics is more dignified. Some people tried to talk me out of studying electrical engineering, saying that an EE degree is nothing more than a glorified electrician’s license. They were wrong. Most of the time, I wear a business suit and tell electricians what to do. If I have to work on a weekend, it’s in blue jeans and Hawaiian shirts. In any case, my yearly income is in the six-figure range. In order to earn that, a Journeyman electrician might have to work 20 or more hours of overtime each week.

Where did geography (my major) rank?

Geography was listed as 90th from the top of 162 majors.

The full list of how these 162 majors faired is given in the attached link:

The most valuable college majors, ranked

The high school guidance counsellor who told me that only dropouts would be an Elevator/Escalator technician (my dream job as a child). I have posted before about how my city (and Canada as a whole) has a massive shortage and they can command close to $100,000/yr. When I talked to a technician about this, he told me he makes about $85,000 a year and then smiled and said "I did pretty good for a dropout!"

The ultimate irony is that because of my high intelligence, I was pushed into a very unprofitable path in life. If I had to fail in University, I would probably be filthy rich at this point because I was financially literate BEFORE university. In other words, the worst thing to even happen to me was to pass my University courses.

No matter how many job skills you have, someone else with the same job skills, and a better demeanor / personality (according to the boss), can and will get the job


Equal employment opportunity commission for gender identity 2012 and I was 29 years old so whatever


Limiting reagents


Take your dog to work day


Personality disorders