EnergyFactor By ExxonMobil | Pespectives has a new home

Back-to-school thoughts

Summer is entering the homestretch, meaning the start of school is not far off. For older students preparing to head off to college, there are few choices as critical as deciding what subjects to study and what discipline to choose for a major.

Since college doesn’t last forever, those students would be wise to check out the recent listing of average starting salaries, by major. The list, compiled by the analysts at College Factual, was recently featured in USA Today.

A few things jump out. Top_10_graphic

One is that STEM disciplines pay well – very well. Programs relating in some way to science, technology, engineering, and math account for every one of the top 10 majors.

Something else that jumps out is the disproportionately high ranking for the major that comes in first place: petroleum engineering.

The average starting salary for petroleum engineering is more than $35,000 higher – or 65 percent more – than the second-place discipline, computer science.

Just as striking is the mid-career average salary for petroleum engineers – almost $160,000.

Those high-dollar figures speak to the economic transformation underway in this country thanks to the production of oil and natural gas from America’s shale and tight-rock formations.

Petroleum engineers are bringing forth new sources of supply and providing a badly needed spark for the American economy. In the process the collective work of the industry’s men and women is preventing flashbacks of 1970’s-style economic torpor and fears of dwindling supplies.

Engineers of all stripes provide a service the economy values highly, as do graduates from most STEM disciplines.

These figures should be on the mind of every college student who wants to make a difference in the world and may help answer the number one question that students receive from friends and family during their university years: What are you planning to do after you graduate?


  • Worth a deeper look...