After finishing the arduous task of completing their college degrees — not to mention racking up a combined $1.2 trillion in student loan debts — graduates are expecting to quickly land a high-paying job that will immediately catapult them into the ranks of the American middle class.
But that’s not how it always works out. There are some majors, obviously, that pay much more than others, and there are majors that have a much higher unemployment rate than their counterparts.
Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce produced a study that listed majors for fields of study that currently have the best track records for helping its graduates find employment by calculating employment totals in the fields where the degrees apply.
Not surprisingly, the demand for teachers and school administrators make education the major with the lowest unemployment rate at 2.4 percent, according to the report. Other disciplines such as biology and, of course, health made the list with unemployment rates under 3 percent.
Some of the fields with the lowest unemployment rate, such as engineering at 2.8 percent, also come out on top in terms of starting salaries. Electrical engineering majors, for example, who topped the list for the highest-paying jobs for graduates with salaries that start out at an average of $57,030.
Take a look at the best and worst majors for employment in America:
Five best college majors for finding employment:
(1). Education: 2.4 percent unemployment
(2). Biology and life sciences: 2.6 percent unemployment
(3). Health: 2.7 percent unemployment
(4). Engineering: 2.8 percent unemployment
(5). Computers, statistics and mathematics: 3.5 percent unemployment
Five worst college majors for finding employment:
(1). Architecture: 10.3 percent unemployment
(2). Social sciences: 10.1 percent unemployment
(3). Psychology and social work: 9 percent unemployment
(4). Law and public policy: 8.6 percent unemployment
(5). Journalism: 8.2 percent unemployment
Best and worst college majors for finding a job
