UC and CSU majors that lead to the best-paying jobs for graduates

[JJ_SFChronicle]

Hey everyone — I’m an editor with the San Francisco Chronicle’s California College Guide.

Today we are talking about which majors in the University of California and California State University systems lead to the highest paying jobs for graduates.

(Why are we posting here? The Chronicle has partnered with College Confidential to bring the information from our California College Guide to this platform. We’re looking to hear more about how people are searching for colleges in California, and what kinds of information and tools are the most important to you. And we’re hoping we can help answer some questions on topics ranging from “impacted majors” to the cost of college.)

The Chronicle’s analysis found that students who graduate with a computer science bachelor’s degree from UC Berkeley have the highest median earnings of those who pursued any field of study across the UC and CSU systems.

And, yes, that’s beating out UCLA computer science grads: At $150,000, the median annual earnings two years after graduation for Berkeley computer science majors is significantly higher than those of their peers at UCLA ($130,000) and Cal Poly San Luis Obispo ($114,000).

The second highest earners were students who graduated with a nursing bachelor’s degree from CSU Monterey Bay with a median annual earning of $136,000.

While the data only includes alumni working in California, our other tools and analyses have shown that 70% of UC graduates work and live in the state.

Overall, nursing majors at Cal State schools and UC degrees in computer science, business and engineering tend to yield the highest earnings. Meanwhile, those who studied the arts, anthropology and foreign languages are among the lowest earners.
As a CSU graduate, I didn’t find any of that information particularly surprising. Attending a top ranked school and earning a bachelor of science has long been a combination for success.

What I did find particularly insightful was earnings comparison between schools. I was able to look at my alma mater and compare what people wind up getting paid at all of the schools I considered in my college search.

I studied political science at Sacramento State but heavily considered attending UC Davis. Through the tool, I found Sac State had a higher medium salary in the short term ($54,000) but UC Davis paid more five ($75,000) and ten years after graduation ($111,000).

Maybe I should have picked Davis!

What do you all think of these tools, and is it really useful for your family as part of the school search process? Let us know.

[fiftyfifty1]

I know nothing about CS hiring so can’t speak to that, but I’m in the medical field so can speak to Nursing. Very rarely do nurses get to negotiate their pay. The pay is what it is for a given position, especially starting off. Also, when hiring nurses, nobody cares where the degree came from. Sonoma vs. Chico? Nobody cares. So differences in pay likely reflect either geographic differences in pay or perhaps differences in which types of jobs the graduates are entering, e.g. hospital (higher) vs outpatient (lower.) So if you are a nursing major, I would recommend you just go to the school that makes sense for you with regard to other fit factors such as cost, location, social vibe etc.

A big picture take-home is that nursing pays very well. It’s a job where you will work hard for your money, but you don’t have to have sky high academic stats to get into the field.