An analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that students majoring in the liberal arts, performing arts and theology earn the lowest salaries within five years of graduating from college. CNBC mentionted.
According to the analysis, these three of the 75 largest companies had the lowest annual income of $38,000.
Other low-paying occupations included leisure and hospitality, history, fine arts and psychology, all earning $40,000 or less annually, which is slightly below the US median personal income of $40,480 as of 2022.
The lowest paying degrees
Liberal arts graduates often receive lower salaries due to factors such as their skills not directly related to income generation or the lack of well-paying jobs compared to the number of graduates, as seen with fine arts degrees.
Meanwhile, education majors are often paid less because of state governments’ inability to keep wages in line with inflation, which has worsened in recent years, according to the Economic Policy Institute.
Teachers also face worse career prospects later in their careers, with education majors the worst paid among mid-career graduates aged 35 to 45.
Mid-career early childhood education majors earn the least, with a median annual income of $48,000, earning only $8,000 more than their post-graduation earnings.
Here’s a list of the degrees that pay the least right out of college according to the analysis.
| Major | Salary |
| Performing Arts | $38,000 |
| Theology + religion | $38,000 |
| Leisure + hospitality | $39,700 |
| General social sciences | $40,000 |
| History | $40,000 |
| Various biological sciences | $40,000 |
| Good arts | $40,000 |
| Treatment treatment | $40,000 |
| Nutritional Sciences | $40,000 |
| Psychology | $40,000 |
| Anthropology | $40,000 |
| Family + consumer sciences | $40,000 |
| Social services | $40,000 |
| Elementary education | $40,000 |
| Early childhood education | $40,000 |
The highest paying college majors
In contrast, the highest-paying fields for both early and mid-career earners tend to be in the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields.
Engineers earn the highest average income right out of college, with computer engineers earning $80,000 per year. Their pay rises to $133,000 by age 35-45, making them the highest of all majors.
Mid-career graduates earn more than the median US personal income of $40,480, with the median pay for all mid-career titles being $75,500.
This annual study is based on US Census data from 2022, the most recent available.
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