If you don't know what to study, and money is an important factor, then have a look at this chart at VisualCapitalist.
Which College Degrees Get the Highest Salaries?
Top 3
1. Chemical Engineering
2. Computer Engineering
3. Electrical Engineering
Which College Degrees Get the Highest Salaries?
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jennypenny
- Posts: 6853
- Joined: Sun Jul 03, 2011 2:20 pm
Re: Which College Degrees Get the Highest Salaries?
Another list from Payscale for Bachelors degrees only ... https://www.payscale.com/college-salary ... /bachelors
1. Petroleum Engineering
2. Actuarial Mathematics
3. Actuarial Science
4. Nuclear Engineering
5. Chemical Engineering
6. Marine Engineering
7. Economics and Mathematics
8. Geophysics
9. Cognitive Science*
10. Electrical Power Engineering
*Because of the explosion of autism-related disorders, this field along with OT and PT are growing very fast and those majors are in high demand. (PT usually requires a 5-6yr program for certification)
In the US, the quickest road to decent money if you aren't into a trade is a 2yr degree in a health-related field like phlebotomy, nursing assistant, dental hygienist, radiology tech, etc. Reliable demand, money, and benefits.
1. Petroleum Engineering
2. Actuarial Mathematics
3. Actuarial Science
4. Nuclear Engineering
5. Chemical Engineering
6. Marine Engineering
7. Economics and Mathematics
8. Geophysics
9. Cognitive Science*
10. Electrical Power Engineering
*Because of the explosion of autism-related disorders, this field along with OT and PT are growing very fast and those majors are in high demand. (PT usually requires a 5-6yr program for certification)
In the US, the quickest road to decent money if you aren't into a trade is a 2yr degree in a health-related field like phlebotomy, nursing assistant, dental hygienist, radiology tech, etc. Reliable demand, money, and benefits.
Re: Which College Degrees Get the Highest Salaries?
Also try to figure out what will be in higher demand vs. the labor pool about 10 years from now (if you plan on starting a career 5 years from now and reaching FIRE about 15 years from now). Maybe petroleum engineering won't be so hot, and I imagine some medical specializations will be even hotter.
There are many sub-disciplines within electrical engineering and I specialized in RF/microwave engineering at just the right time, with the majority of RF/MW engineers being 50+ and looking to retire, with not enough young kids picking up the slack. Most students were more interested in programming / computer engineering than the black magic of RF. I didn't do any research into the demand for various specializations; it just worked out that way for me because there was less competition. If you take on a project or specialized courses that the majority thinks is too difficult or just isn't interested in, you're bound to have good opportunities if you stick with it as long as there is demand for that expertise.
Now it's peak prosperity for young RF engineers, and if you have 10 solid years of experience you could easily be in the 90th percentile of all electrical engineers' pay, outpacing most other engineers who have been working for 30 or 40 years - even outpacing most Silicon Valley software engineers' salaries. However, it won't be long before the tides turn. Analog-to-digital/digital-to-analog converters and system-on-a-chip technology are quickly growing in capability so that they will be taking over more of what was used to be done using only analog components. There may be no demand for the specific type of work I was doing in my early engineering years in perhaps 10 years from now. There will still be plenty of demand for higher frequency (millimeter-wave) and system-engineering expertise (at smaller and smaller scales), but compared to the already challenging world of RF, that stuff has an even greater learning curve and degree of complexity - more "unknown unknowns" that could screw up the whole design = more stress. If I were starting my EE career now, I think I'd rather specialize in something else like biomedical engineering or robotics.
There are many sub-disciplines within electrical engineering and I specialized in RF/microwave engineering at just the right time, with the majority of RF/MW engineers being 50+ and looking to retire, with not enough young kids picking up the slack. Most students were more interested in programming / computer engineering than the black magic of RF. I didn't do any research into the demand for various specializations; it just worked out that way for me because there was less competition. If you take on a project or specialized courses that the majority thinks is too difficult or just isn't interested in, you're bound to have good opportunities if you stick with it as long as there is demand for that expertise.
Now it's peak prosperity for young RF engineers, and if you have 10 solid years of experience you could easily be in the 90th percentile of all electrical engineers' pay, outpacing most other engineers who have been working for 30 or 40 years - even outpacing most Silicon Valley software engineers' salaries. However, it won't be long before the tides turn. Analog-to-digital/digital-to-analog converters and system-on-a-chip technology are quickly growing in capability so that they will be taking over more of what was used to be done using only analog components. There may be no demand for the specific type of work I was doing in my early engineering years in perhaps 10 years from now. There will still be plenty of demand for higher frequency (millimeter-wave) and system-engineering expertise (at smaller and smaller scales), but compared to the already challenging world of RF, that stuff has an even greater learning curve and degree of complexity - more "unknown unknowns" that could screw up the whole design = more stress. If I were starting my EE career now, I think I'd rather specialize in something else like biomedical engineering or robotics.