Want to Make a Lot of Money? The Answer Is Science

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Those wishing of adding zeros to their paychecks should know one thing: they're prayers might be best answered through science--or at least by landing a job related to science. Those working in jobs involving science, technology, engineering, and mathematics--STEM jobs, for short--tend to outearn those in other types of jobs at nearly every education level, according to a new study from Georgetown University. As the chart from the study above shows, what that means is that practically everyone from high-school dropouts to Ph.D.'s are more like to have better-than-average salaries for their respective education levels if they work a STEM job--regardless of what they studied in school. The exception are those with professional degrees--lawyers and businesspeople who can make a lot of money in lots of fields. Of course, the best way to get a lucrative STEM job is to study a STEM subject in the first place: On average, those with STEM majors earn $500,000 more over the course of their lifetimes than those with non-STEM majors. So maybe your parent were right to be leery of you majoring in English.