Drill, baby, drill!
Petroleum engineers get the biggest bang for their education buck — landing the highest-paying jobs after graduation, a new study reveals.
Grads with a degree in the oil-based field made on average $136,000 a year, the study by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce found.
Workers who majored in pharmacy, pharmaceutical sciences and pharmaceutical administration had the second-highest salaries — $113,000 per year — and were the only non-engineering majors to crack the top 10.
Overall, engineers pulled down nine of the top 10 most lucrative jobs.
The study of 137 college majors also found that the difference between the highest- and lowest-paying majors was $97,000 a year, which amounted to $3.4 million over a lifetime.
Metal, mining and chemical engineering rounded out the top five highest-paying majors, followed by chemical, electrical, aerospace, mechanical, computer and geological engineering.
The lowest-earning majors are in the arts, education, consumer services, psychology, and social work.
An early childhood educator, for example, averages just $39,000 after graduation.
