NEWSFLASH - Recent college graduates with certain degrees from certain programs have paychecks that are not the same when compared to recent college graduates with different degrees from different programs.
Of course we all know this correlation shows causation perfectly - just like our dependence on foreign oil has been reduced because we eat less chicken- http://tylervigen.com/view_correlation?id=2751
The figures don’t include graduate students.
A frequent pattern is to work a couple of years before applying to grad school. So, 4-5 years for an undergrad degree, 2 years working, then on to graduate or professional school…
No doctors or lawyers are in the pool, then? How much do judge’s clerks or medical residents make?
Even if true (though I’m doubtful and the article won’t open on my phone), so what?
Yes, I will forever make less than some of my STEM friends because I’m a historian but I adore my field and it’s enough to have a little home, a family, my puppy, and do some fun things once in a while. I love my research. I love my work. Why do I need globs of money if I’m happy every day?
To send your future kids to college. 
At the rate tuition is going, that won’t be possible for 95% of us anyway so…
So, yeah…just another impossible thing. Not worth considering…
Saw this yesterday when my WSJ came. Are we supposed to be surprised by this?
It won’t be possible… so don’t even try? I think my kids are glad I didn’t take that approach. But I know you don’t have any yet, and the puppy isn’t going to college. 
The full definitions from the database documentation are below
According to the MIT survey at http://web.mit.edu/ir/surveys/pdf/2005-13_UG_Alum_Trend_Overall.pdf , ~half of MIT graduates who pursue graduate/professional school begin within 1 year of completing their undergrad, so 10 years after undergrad enrollment should be enough for many to be finished with their graduate/professional school (often just starting out), but many will also still be in school.
Our experience is different. D knows several members of the class of 2016 who have accepted jobs in banking or consulting. This should not be surprising as economics is the most common major. The 2014-15 Common Data Set shows that 16.9% of graduates were economics majors, followed by 13.6 computer science majors: http://www.swarthmore.edu/sites/default/files/assets/documents/institutional-research/Combined%20CDS%202014-15_%20larger%20type.pdf at p. 36.
Another 12.45% of Swatties graduating in 2014 were bio majors, a sizable fraction of whom are aiming for medical school, and Swat’s statistics indicate most of them will get there. As will some non-trivial fraction of the non-bio majors. Many leading LACs have a distinctly pre-professional cast to them. Swat certainly felt that way when we visited.
You can find more detail about career outcomes, including for varied years after entry, at http://www.swarthmore.edu/sites/default/files/assets/documents/institutional-research/Highlights-%20%20Alumni%20Outcomes%202013.pdf . ]If I assume 10 years after entry is similar to 5 years after graduating, then the totals are:
68% Employed, 27% Pursuing grad/professional degrees and not employed, 3% Unemployed and seeking work
The most common employment categories were
20% Scientist, 14% Teacher (not tenure-track faculty), 8% Lawyer, 5% Doctor
40% For profit, 30% Non-profit, 25% Gov/Public, 4% Self-employed
Among all years, more detailed categories are available:
25% Other, 18% Scientist, 13% Teacher, 7% Lawyer, 6% College Faculty, 6% Doctor, 5% Consultant, 4% Tech, 4% Sales, 3% Admin., 3% Health, 3% Analyst, 3% Writer
74% received or were pursuing grad degrees. The most common categories were:
44% Master’s, 21% PhD, 10% JD, 7% MD, 2% Other, <1% MBA
@pizzagirl “Given that it’s not a competition, it’s really immaterial to me that people who do things my kids aren’t interested in doing make more money. If my kid is happy with his $x a year career, what the heck difference does it make if his engineer roommate makes $x, $1.5x or $10x?”
I agree with this, but I do think that it is important that the students understand these differences when they are choosing schools and majors. Students should not pick a major they are not interested in, but within the subjects that interest them, there could be a wide range of salaries and employment rates.
I think that a student should plan what they will pursue with that major.
I think we all know by now that overall, on average there are certain majors/careers etc. that pay better. So what?
I was not about to try to convince either of my kids to major in something they were disliked in order to get a job they would not like.
In other news, nursery school teachers earn less than neurosurgeons. Film at 11.
There’s not much I can infer from this article. If I wanted to maximize my salary I should go to a university over a liberal arts college. But beyond that it doesn’t seem like there’s much more advice for someone trying to narrow down their school selection.
“There’s not much I can infer from this article. If I wanted to maximize my salary I should go to a university over a liberal arts college. But beyond that it doesn’t seem like there’s much more advice for someone trying to narrow down their school selection.”
It also does not give you a clear picture of the importance of choosing a major vs. choosing a school. I suspect that choosing a more employable major will have a bigger impact.
For example, I am guessing a computer science major from Swarthmore will, on average, earn more than an art history major at Penn.
I remember graduating from college in the 80’s with a Liberal Arts degree and having some trouble even getting a job initially. When I finally landed that job, I was making nearly half of what my engineering friends were making. But luckily for me my first job turned out to be within a fast growing industry, where I worked very hard, and aligned myself well within the company. Within several years, I received several promotions, and I was making far more than my engineering friends.
My point is that several things come into play besides what type of degree you pursue. Being in the right place at the right time (luck), working harder and smarter every day, getting noticed for that hard work by good management, making your boss look good, making yourself invaluable and knowledgeable within your industry, and working in an emerging market/technology are all factors in having a successful career.
Tech companies are now hiring Liberal Arts kids, and I think it is great. Having great coders is important to them, of course. But having a well-rounded team of workers is far more important, in my opinion.
They don’t bring them back for the panels for accepted student days… one panel the year we went had five students who were former Swat students or graduating that year. FOUR of them were involved in some kind of non-profit start up, one was in consulting. The non-profit startups were things like “Dance for Katrina” (ninth ward dance program of some kind) and one student who had abandoned his pre-med plans to go improve the education system in India (he was not Indian – honestly, it seemed really random). Other panels we went to had a similar flavor. My D said they talked about social justice non-stop in her dorm at the overnight (we are liberal Dems, but even she found it to be a bit much). I am not saying that none of the Swat students go on to any kind of corporate job. But statistically it is lower than a lot of other LACs, hence the earnings difference. The environment there isn’t real focused on that as an end goal. My D really wanted Swat to be the school for her, but she came away from this feeling like the students were super smart, but the bubble was pretty impermeable between Swat and the outside world. Swat does what it does, and what it has done for zillion years, and to heck with everyone else. Meanwhile, the world is changing outside… they are not the only school one could say this about, but it was really noticeable to us.