<p>I try to ignore the Homer-fueled threads, but this one needs to be addressed.</p>
<p>It IS true that one in “business” can make much more than someone in engineering BUT do you know how low a percentage that is?..compared to all of the business majors out there. One can just look at the success rate of folks starting their own business.</p>
<p>There is no “defense contracting” for business majors. Yeah, we will hire an accountant here or there or a finance person but since they are not actually designing/developing defense systems, they will be at the home office, with NO CLEARANCE and no access to the SCIF handling the “numbers”…definitely not making what the engineers make.</p>
<p>The average engineer who does NOT own a business will make more than a business major who does NOT own their business over the course of 20 years. No need referring to business majors who establish a successful company…that is a VERY SMALL percentage compared to all of the business majors floating around.</p>
<p>Add to it, the sheer COMPETITION for business-related positions will not allow business majors to make more money. There are more business majors per job opening, thus the salary will not be higher. You have some defense/engineering firms offering $5,000 just if you can FIND someone (at least here in the DC/VA/MD area). You have remote areas (no offense) like Rocky Mountain areas or some southwestern states offering big salaries because it is hard to attract folks to live there.</p>
<p>Once more thing about business majors…if you are not math-related like Accounting, Finance or Operations Research (which is closer to engineering), you are NOT earning big salaries. All of that Marketing, Human Resources, General Management will take you many more years and promotions to get the money that the average engineering major.</p>