10 College Degrees With the Best Starting Salaries

1. Petroleum Engineering – Petroleum engineers design and develop methods for extracting oil and gas from underground reservoirs. Median annual wage: $133,000

2. Aerospace Engineering – Aerospace engineers design and develop aircraft, spacecraft, and missiles. Median annual wage: $110,000

3. Nuclear Engineering – Nuclear engineers design, develop, supervise the operation and maintenance of nuclear power plants. Median annual wage: $107,000

4. Computer Engineering – Computer engineers design and develop computer hardware and software. Median annual wage: $105,000

5. Chemical Engineering – Chemical engineers apply the principles of chemistry to solve problems related to the production of chemicals, drugs, food, and other products. Median annual wage: $100,000

6. Electrical Engineering – Electrical engineers design and develop electrical equipment, from power grids to medical devices. Median annual wage: $99,000

7. Engineering Physics – Engineering physicists apply physics principles to solve engineering problems. Median annual wage: $97,000

8. Operations Research – Operations research analysts develop and apply mathematical models to improve efficiency in business, government, and other organizations. Median annual wage: $95,000

9. Computer Science – Computer scientists design and develop software systems. Median annual wage: $93,000

10. Mathematics – Mathematicians study the properties of numbers, space, and patterns. Median annual wage: $91,000