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SALT LAKE CITY — College freshmen choose a major for a variety of reasons, but when students take the college plunge, they want to make sure it will pay off by choosing majors with high starting salaries.
Recent surveys show that science, technology, engineering and mathematics majors earn the highest starting salaries out of college.
Computer science majors have a median starting salary of $59,221 and engineering majors start at $61,913, while humanities majors start at about $36,998 and education majors start at $40,668, according to recent survey by the The National Association of Colleges and Employers.
Before picking a major, academic advisors recommend students do a bit of soul searching. They need to see if the career they hope to get after college matches their values.
"Is it important that they're making money? Is it important that they're helping people? Is it important that they have time for family?" said Steve Hadley with University of Utah College Academic Advising.
Hadley also said students need to consider whether or not they would enjoy working in that field.
Most people want to do something that they enjoy doing. It's a lot easier to get out of bed in the morning and go to work if you enjoy what you're doing and you're probably going to be a lot better at something that you enjoy doing.
–Steve Hadley, University of Utah College Academic Advising
"Most people want to do something that they enjoy doing," he said. "It's a lot easier to get out of bed in the morning and go to work if you enjoy what you're doing, and you're probably going to be a lot better at something that you enjoy doing."
There are some pitfalls, however, to picking a college major simply based on the amount of money it could bring. Hadley said most of the students he counsels that choose a major with this method don't end up liking the major they picked.
There are even some students who make a decision based solely on what their parents would want. Hadley said those students may run into a lot of problems later.
"From my experience, there are some times when they can succeed," he said. "But, they could also be the student that doesn't do well academically or even gets suspended for academic reasons."
However, if a student realizes they made a wrong decision, they don't necessarily need to change majors.
"Most employers are more concerned about the skills that someone develops than what their major is in," Hadley said.
