The Income Impact of College Majors: Top and Lowest-Earning Fields.

A new analysis from the HEA Group found that college majors in STEM fields tend to lead to the highest salaries after graduation, with naval architecture and marine engineering being the highest-earning majors. However, the most popular majors among students are business administration, nursing, and psychology. While pursuing a high-earning major may not be perceived as fulfilling, students are under pressure to pick a major that will allow them to repay their loans and gain a foothold in the middle class. Graduates from about 3% of college programs are earning less than $20,000 annually, which could lead to financial hardship. Pursuing high-paying majors at top universities can add juice to earnings, but very few are able to gain entry into these schools.