If you’re going to borrow heavily to afford college, then you’ll want a decent income after graduation to pay back the loans. Choosing a field of study is pretty important! Check out entry-level salaries for a number of professions…
| College Major | Median Annual | |
| Accountant | $43,000 | |
| Aerospace Engineer | $62,000 | |
| Biologist | $46,000 | |
| Budget Analyst | $49,000 | |
| Chemist | $25,000 | |
| Civil Engineer | $56,000 | |
| Computer Programmer | $54,000 | |
| Federal Corrections Officer | $39,500 | |
| Geologist | $40,000 | |
| Human Resources Generalist | $49,000 | |
| Logistics Analyst | $48,000 | |
| Mechanical Engineer | $60,000 | |
| Medical Resident | $45,000 | |
| Meteorologist | $28,000 | |
| Military (E-1) | $18,000 | |
| Military (O-1) | $34,000 | |
| Paralegal | $40,000 | |
| Petroleum Engineer | $83,000 | |
| Pharmacy Technician | $32,500 | |
| Physician Assistant | $69,500 | |
| Radiologic Technologist | $44,500 | |
| Recruiter | $47,000 | |
| SEO Specialist | $45,000 | |
| Software Engineer | $58,500 | |
| Technical Writer | $46,000 | |
| Veterinary Technician | $30,000 | |
This chart is useful if you find you need to take a student loan to meet all of your expected expenses. Loans, for the most part, require repayment arrangements to begin soon after graduation.
To help you plan ahead, use the list of average salaries (above) to determine your approximate income after college. Because it would be impossible to list every type of job, only a representative selection is provided here.
Graduates are increasingly rejecting public-sector jobs because of the low pay these jobs offer, but the number of high-paying private sector jobs is limited because of recent corporate downsizing.
On the other hand, the number of jobs requiring technical skills and those involving the health care industry are increasing rapidly – and pay well.
To find out more about salaries and employment predictions, you can visit the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Handbook site at http://www.bls.gov/oco/, PayScale.com, and Salary.com.
