Ranked

US majors with the lowest graduate earnings

The other end of the same federal data. A low figure is not a verdict on the subject — it is the salary reality to plan your borrowing around.

#MajorLevelGradeMedian earningsTypical rangeGraduates/yr
241 Business Master's B $80,718 $59,895–$84,653 9,081
242 Civil Engineering Master's B $71,823 $66,169–$74,200 4,960
243 Computer Engineering Bachelor's A $72,828 $63,749–$75,804 12,137
244 Mining and Mineral Engineering Bachelor's A $69,338 $69,338–$74,953 177
245 Biomathematics Bachelor's A $71,015 $70,176–$71,015 697
246 Information Science & Studies Master's B $76,998 $64,358–$86,867 8,428
247 Genetics Master's B $72,671 $69,338–$73,321 474
248 Medical Illustration and Informatics Master's B $73,321 $60,161–$84,653 2,128
249 International Business Master's B $74,576 $57,318–$79,450 1,476
250 Systems Engineering Bachelor's A $74,279 $61,020–$74,576 705
251 Finance Master's B $82,993 $64,196–$87,973 4,158
252 Computer Software and Media Applications Master's B $78,971 $61,144–$86,550 3,929
253 Petroleum Engineering Bachelor's A $77,213 $67,380–$80,022 627
254 Biomedical Engineering Master's B $75,706 $63,005–$77,715 3,671
255 Taxation Master's B $77,039 $66,104–$79,389 968
256 Chemical Engineering Master's B $77,401 $73,949–$83,546 1,687
257 Quality Control Master's B $68,880 $73,635–$79,473 717
258 Computer and Information Sciences Master's A $107,758 $71,015–$94,408 29,526
259 Health Professions Education Master's B $80,862 $70,009–$91,744 3,831
260 Statistics Master's A $103,078 $75,706–$87,604 3,703
261 Mechanical Engineering Master's B $82,882 $75,518–$86,129 7,395
262 Naval Architecture Bachelor's A $89,968 $70,456–$89,968 326
263 Industrial Engineering Master's B $87,604 $70,009–$89,059 2,737
264 Information Technology Management Master's A $97,367 $75,518–$97,071 11,140
265 Applied Mathematics Master's A $97,071 $70,456–$86,689 6,541
266 Management Sciences Master's A $94,075 $78,343–$99,662 41,145
267 Aerospace Engineering Master's A $90,856 $81,702–$93,520 2,402
268 Engineering Master's B $90,412 $78,343–$90,412 3,783
269 Real Estate Master's A $98,847 $77,213–$105,245 1,130
270 Pharmacy Master's A $92,124 $76,460–$100,849 1,995
271 Electrical Engineering Master's A $96,775 $82,440–$97,959 9,188
272 Computer Science Master's A $106,421 $78,971–$106,421 22,158
273 Computer Engineering Master's A $109,095 $84,653–$104,192 5,898
274 Nursing Master's A $94,227 $90,678–$105,392 49,755
275 Systems Engineering Master's A $101,072 $95,295–$106,421 2,393
276 Allied Health Diagnostic Master's A $104,192 $94,892–$106,978 13,938
277 Medical Clinical Sciences & Graduate Medical Studies Master's A $172,991 $112,815–$188,472 725
278 Allied Health Master's A $165,486 $89,841–$166,905 504
279 Advanced & Graduate Dentistry Master's A $192,188 $178,741–$198,793 839

A low figure is a planning input, not a verdict

Nothing here says these subjects are not worth studying. It says that if you borrow heavily for one of them, the repayment will take a larger share of your pay for longer — so the price of the institution matters more, and scholarships matter more.

Two years out is early for some fields

Subjects that lead into further study or long qualification routes — psychology, biology, fine art, humanities heading to teaching or law — look weakest at this measuring point and often improve substantially later. The data cannot see that; you can.

Questions

Which college majors earn the least?
Business (Master's) — $70,876 median earnings two years after finishing, across 156 US programmes.
Are these starting salaries?
No. They are median earnings two years after students completed the degree, taken from tax records rather than surveys or job adverts.
Can I compare a master's with a bachelor's here?
Only with care. Each grade is a percentile inside its own credential level, so an A master's and an A bachelor's are both top-of-their-level rather than equal in salary.

Source: US Department of Education College Scorecard field-of-study earnings, measured two years after completion. Majors with too few programmes publishing earnings are left out rather than estimated.