Ranking Of University Majors By Projected Lifetime Earnings Potential Adjusted For Future Trends

[holy]

I have researched current data on this because lifetime earnings projections shift pretty regularly, and I genuinely want to make sure I'm giving people on this forum, as retard as they are, actual numbers rather than guessing based on stuff from early 2025.

Specific data on the actual lifetime earnings and future trend adjustments have also been researched.

Here's what the data actually shows.
https://www.tamus.edu/data-science/...mic-major-and-occupation-on-lifetime-earnings
https://educationdata.org/college-degree-roi
https://www.bankrate.com/loans/student-loans/average-college-graduate-salary
https://www.hamiltonproject.org/data/career-earnings-by-college-major
https://global.nmsu.edu/blog/general/in-demand-college-majors-2025
https://www.nu.edu/blog/highest-paying-college-majors
https://www.bridgeport.edu/news/highest-paying-college-majors-in-2025
https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/valueofcollegemajors
https://www.aplu.org/our-work/4-policy-and-advocacy/publicuvalues/employment-earnings
https://poetsandquantsforundergrads...salary-projections-for-the-top-college-majors

I want to be real with you about this though. Most rankings you'll see just pull current salary data or static lifetime earnings.

Ranking university majors by projected lifetime earnings potential adjusted for future trends is kind of trickier because future trends aren't something we can predict with perfect accuracy.

So, I'll basically provide the majors at the top based on current lifetime earnings data, then talk about which ones actually look positioned for growth rather than stagnation or decline.



TIER 1: CLEAR WINNERS

Engineering, computer science, and related stem fields consistently dominate.


Software developers:


The demand keeps growing.

- AI
- Machine learning
- Cybersecurity
- Data engineering

These fields have structural reasons for expansion. Companies are investing heavily and will continue to for at least the next decade or so.

Similar story with biomedical engineering:

This one's solid long term too.

TIER 2: SOLID BUT WITH LIMITATIONS

Nursing anesthetists and nurse practitioners:

​

"But holy, don't these pay extremely well?"​

Of course they do. Demand's high but it's also saturated in many regions.
Wage growth has actually been slower than people think once you account for cost of living adjustments + these require licensure and ongoing certification costs.

Business majors in finance:


Computer science majors:


But "business" is incredibly broad.

1. General business admin is getting softer.
2. Finance specifically, management consulting, is still strong but it's competitive and the salary growth plateaus faster than tech does.

TIER 3: RESPECTABLE BUT WATCH OUT

Communications majors:

BUT DO NOT BE FOOLED. They're actually trending downward in starting salaries.
Data science:

This is with decent growth, but this is getting crowded. Like, a lot.
Bootcamps pump out thousands of people into data roles annually. You'll need differentiation beyond just the degree.

Accounting and basic business admin fall into this category. Safe but not exceptional, and the automation threat is real (though probably 10+ years away).
TIER 4: AVOID UNLESS SPECIFIC

- Education majors offer the lowest lifetime roi at negative 55.43%
- Liberal arts at negative 42.78%
- Family and consumer science at negative 38.95%

These aren't universally worthless, but the default financial outcome is rough.
If you go this route (which I doubt you most likely will not) you need a specific vision.

WHAT ABOUT FUTURE TRENDS THAT MATTER?

Emerging shit like:

- Data science
- AI
- Renewable energy
- Environmental engineering
May not top salary charts today but show significant long-term earning potential and job security.

Also, the wild shit is that transferable skills like data analysis, leadership, project management, and digital communication boost earning potential across ALL industries regardless of degree choice.
​

"Holy, what does this mean?"​

It means a history major who knows python and SQL might end up earning more than a generic business admin who doesn't.
This matters because the major alone doesn't tell the whole story anymore.

If I'm being honest about my own take here.

Spoiler: PERSONAL TAKE

1. Tech adjacent fields (software engineering, data science, ML) are your safest bets for sustained growth. They're not oversaturated yet despite what people say.
2. Healthcare is reliable but the marginal growth is slower.
3. Pure business is crowded unless you're going to something specialized like consulting or investment banking.
4. And anything in liberal arts or education... yeah don't pick that shit.

 

[HighIQ ubermensch]

DNR

 

[holy]

DNR

 

[HarmonyHunter]

I have researched current data on this because lifetime earnings projections shift pretty regularly, and I genuinely want to make sure I'm giving people on this forum, as retard as they are, actual numbers rather than guessing based on stuff from early 2025.

Specific data on the actual lifetime earnings and future trend adjustments have also been researched.

Here's what the data actually shows.
https://www.tamus.edu/data-science/...mic-major-and-occupation-on-lifetime-earnings
https://educationdata.org/college-degree-roi
https://www.bankrate.com/loans/student-loans/average-college-graduate-salary
https://www.hamiltonproject.org/data/career-earnings-by-college-major
https://global.nmsu.edu/blog/general/in-demand-college-majors-2025
https://www.nu.edu/blog/highest-paying-college-majors
https://www.bridgeport.edu/news/highest-paying-college-majors-in-2025
https://cew.georgetown.edu/cew-reports/valueofcollegemajors
https://www.aplu.org/our-work/4-policy-and-advocacy/publicuvalues/employment-earnings
https://poetsandquantsforundergrads...salary-projections-for-the-top-college-majors

I want to be real with you about this though. Most rankings you'll see just pull current salary data or static lifetime earnings.

Ranking university majors by projected lifetime earnings potential adjusted for future trends is kind of trickier because future trends aren't something we can predict with perfect accuracy.

So, I'll basically provide the majors at the top based on current lifetime earnings data, then talk about which ones actually look positioned for growth rather than stagnation or decline.

View attachment 4225628

TIER 1: CLEAR WINNERS

Engineering, computer science, and related stem fields consistently dominate.
View attachment 4225634

Software developers:
View attachment 4225599

The demand keeps growing.

- AI
- Machine learning
- Cybersecurity
- Data engineering

These fields have structural reasons for expansion. Companies are investing heavily and will continue to for at least the next decade or so.

Similar story with biomedical engineering:
View attachment 4225605
This one's solid long term too.

TIER 2: SOLID BUT WITH LIMITATIONS

Nursing anesthetists and nurse practitioners:
View attachment 4225639



Of course they do. Demand's high but it's also saturated in many regions.
Wage growth has actually been slower than people think once you account for cost of living adjustments + these require licensure and ongoing certification costs.

Business majors in finance:
View attachment 4225647

Computer science majors:
View attachment 4225648

But "business" is incredibly broad.

1. General business admin is getting softer.
2. Finance specifically, management consulting, is still strong but it's competitive and the salary growth plateaus faster than tech does.

TIER 3: RESPECTABLE BUT WATCH OUT

Communications majors:
View attachment 4225673
BUT DO NOT BE FOOLED. They're actually trending downward in starting salaries.
Data science:
View attachment 4225689
This is with decent growth, but this is getting crowded. Like, a lot.
Bootcamps pump out thousands of people into data roles annually. You'll need differentiation beyond just the degree.

Accounting and basic business admin fall into this category. Safe but not exceptional, and the automation threat is real (though probably 10+ years away).
TIER 4: AVOID UNLESS SPECIFIC

- Education majors offer the lowest lifetime roi at negative 55.43%
- Liberal arts at negative 42.78%
- Family and consumer science at negative 38.95%

These aren't universally worthless, but the default financial outcome is rough.
If you go this route (which I doubt you most likely will not) you need a specific vision.

WHAT ABOUT FUTURE TRENDS THAT MATTER?

Emerging shit like:

- Data science
- AI
- Renewable energy
- Environmental engineering
May not top salary charts today but show significant long-term earning potential and job security.

Also, the wild shit is that transferable skills like data analysis, leadership, project management, and digital communication boost earning potential across ALL industries regardless of degree choice.



It means a history major who knows python and SQL might end up earning more than a generic business admin who doesn't.
This matters because the major alone doesn't tell the whole story anymore.

If I'm being honest about my own take here.

Spoiler: PERSONAL TAKE

1. Tech adjacent fields (software engineering, data science, ML) are your safest bets for sustained growth. They're not oversaturated yet despite what people say.
2. Healthcare is reliable but the marginal growth is slower.
3. Pure business is crowded unless you're going to something specialized like consulting or investment banking.
4. And anything in liberal arts or education... yeah don't pick that shit.

i plan to do a buisness major in finance
Also DR this good shi

 

[Dr. Mog]

Only nurses are mentioned under the healthcare. Your haven’t mentioned doctors who’s earning is more than a software developer in the long run.

21 out of 25 highest earned professionals were just doctors last year

 

[Frogooboi]

Only nurses are mentioned under the healthcare. Your haven’t mentioned doctors who’s earning is more than a software developer in the long run.

21 out of 25 highest earned professionals were just doctors last year
View attachment 4226843

He’s ranking majors, a doctor needs more than a major so it’s not included

 

[Frogooboi]

Holy high effort this needs more attention

Spoiler: Iqcel uncs

@Psocho @BigBallsLarry

 

[BigBallsLarry]

Holy high effort this needs more attention

Spoiler: Iqcel uncs

@Psocho @BigBallsLarry

W for STEMcels

 

[Dr. Mog]

He’s ranking majors, a doctor needs more than a major so it’s not included

Not sure what part of the world you live in, but I believe you can practice as a duty doctor or a gen practitioner with just the basic 6 year degree without doing a super speciality in any particular field, pay for them is 60% of what the super speciality or post grad doctors earn where I live.

 

[Frogooboi]

Not sure what part of the world you live in, but I believe you can practice as a duty doctor or a gen practitioner with just the basic 6 year degree without doing a super speciality in any particular field, pay for them is 60% of what the super speciality or post grad doctors earn where I live.

In my country after completing a degree you then must complete medical school to become a practicing doctor, I guess I just assumed that was the default

 

[holy]

Only nurses are mentioned under the healthcare. Your haven’t mentioned doctors who’s earning is more than a software developer in the long run.

21 out of 25 highest earned professionals were just doctors last year
View attachment 4226843

You're right, and that's a legit oversight on my part. But, unfortunately, it's complicated.

I SPECIFICALLY talked about "lifetime earnings adjusted for future trends," and doctors sit in a weird position.

Yes, median physician earnings are higher than software developers on paper. Median salary for physicians is around $200,000 to $250,000 depending on specialty. Software engineers top out lower on average. But there's actual context that changes the calculation.

1. Time investment. Med school is 4 years + 3-7 years of residency depending on specialty. That's 7 to 11 years of either low or no income while you're training. Software engineers start earning $120,000 to $180,000 immediately after a 4 year degree. By the time a physician finishes residency at 30 years old, that software engineer has already accumulated 6-9 years of earnings, retirement contributions, and compound growth.

You see how insane that shit is?

The lifetime earnings gap actually narrows when you factor in years worked and time value of money.

2. Income floor. A mid career software engineer at a decent company makes $150,000-300,000 with upside into $500,000 + at senior levels or at startups. A mid career physician makes roughly $200,000 to $300,000 with less variance upward. The ceiling's higher for doctors in some specialties but the growth trajectory is flatter.

3. Future trends work against physicians more than you'd think. Healthcare is increasingly subject to insurance negotiations that compress salaries. Telehealth is already reducing certain specialist demand. AI diagnostic tools will eventually shift what physicians do (though not eliminate the role). Of course, I'm not saying these are immediate threats but they're real structural headwinds over a 40 year career. The demand curve for software and ai development points upwards instead of sideways.

The reason you're saying

21 out of 25 highest earned professionals were just doctors last year

is because those lists usually rank by current salary, not by projected lifetime earnings accounting for time to peak earnings, training costs, and market trajectory.

Physicians DO genuinely earn a lot right now. But for someone choosing a major today and projecting forward, the software path actually has better risk adjusted returns.

That said, if someone's specifically asking "which single role pays the most in absolute dollars at peak," then yes, certain surgical specialties beat anything in tech.

But that's different to what I originally researched, which was lifetime earnings adjusted for future trends.

 

[AverageCurryEnjoyer]

Im lowkey a unicel, coulf I dm tou for advice on my future plan

 

[holy]

coulf I dm tou for advice on my future plan

Np.

 

[Dr. Mog]

You're right, and that's a legit oversight on my part. But, unfortunately, it's complicated.

I SPECIFICALLY talked about "lifetime earnings adjusted for future trends," and doctors sit in a weird position.

Yes, median physician earnings are higher than software developers on paper. Median salary for physicians is around $200,000 to $250,000 depending on specialty. Software engineers top out lower on average. But there's actual context that changes the calculation.

1. Time investment. Med school is 4 years + 3-7 years of residency depending on specialty. That's 7 to 11 years of either low or no income while you're training. Software engineers start earning $120,000 to $180,000 immediately after a 4 year degree. By the time a physician finishes residency at 30 years old, that software engineer has already accumulated 6-9 years of earnings, retirement contributions, and compound growth.

You see how insane that shit is?

The lifetime earnings gap actually narrows when you factor in years worked and time value of money.

2. Income floor. A mid career software engineer at a decent company makes $150,000-300,000 with upside into $500,000 + at senior levels or at startups. A mid career physician makes roughly $200,000 to $300,000 with less variance upward. The ceiling's higher for doctors in some specialties but the growth trajectory is flatter.

3. Future trends work against physicians more than you'd think. Healthcare is increasingly subject to insurance negotiations that compress salaries. Telehealth is already reducing certain specialist demand. AI diagnostic tools will eventually shift what physicians do (though not eliminate the role). Of course, I'm not saying these are immediate threats but they're real structural headwinds over a 40 year career. The demand curve for software and ai development points upwards instead of sideways.

The reason you're saying

is because those lists usually rank by current salary, not by projected lifetime earnings accounting for time to peak earnings, training costs, and market trajectory.

Physicians DO genuinely earn a lot right now. But for someone choosing a major today and projecting forward, the software path actually has better risk adjusted returns.

That said, if someone's specifically asking "which single role pays the most in absolute dollars at peak," then yes, certain surgical specialties beat anything in tech.

But that's different to what I originally researched, which was lifetime earnings adjusted for future trends.

Your chatgpt is almost right but wrong about a few things.

The growth trajectory for doctors is actually higher than that of CS engineers. Many doctors start at 200k and yes the salary does cap at around 600k but almost every doctor get attain that salary bump if tried well enough. Whereas getting a salary bump as a CS major is luck. You will have to do something a lil extraordinary in your company or your field or else it’s gonna stay the same for you through out your career with your salary only adjusting to the economic inflation.

But yes the major con is being a doctor takes 2x of your prime youth than a CS major who will start earning at 22-23 if done well and graduated from Ivy or a top15 college of the country he’d make a 150k at places like NYC. You also need to hail from a decent moneaxxed family cause If you plan on taking a loan throughout a decade of your life to study medicine nah just forget about it.

 

[holy]

Your chatgpt

I pulled data from the hamilton project at brookings institution and georgetown's center on education and the workforce.

Career earnings by college major - The Hamilton Project

See the accompanying economic analysis, “Major Decisions: What Graduates Earn Over Their Lifetimes.” Over the entire working life, the typical college graduate will earn $1.19 million in today’s dollars. This is more than twice as much as the lifetime earnings of a typical high school graduate...

www.hamiltonproject.org

The Economic Value of College Majors - CEW Georgetown

The Economic Value of College Majors finds that the top-paying college majors earn $3.4 million more than the lowest-paying majors over a lifetime.

cew.georgetown.edu

You can go verify this yourself.

The hamilton project literally has an interactive tool where you can pull lifetime earnings by major. The data is literally public. If i was just spitting out bullshit from a language model, the numbers wouldn't match actual census aggregates. So that accusation doesn't hold up jfl.

The growth trajectory for doctors is actually higher than that of CS engineers. Many doctors start at 200k and yes the salary does cap at around 600k but almost every doctor get attain that salary bump if tried well enough. Whereas getting a salary bump as a CS major is luck. You will have to do something a lil extraordinary in your company or your field or else it’s gonna stay the same for you through out your career with your salary only adjusting to the economic inflation.

But yes the major con is being a doctor takes 2x of your prime youth than a CS major who will start earning at 22-23 if done well and graduated from Ivy or a top15 college of the country he’d make a 150k at places like NYC. You also need to hail from a decent moneaxxed family cause If you plan on taking a loan throughout a decade of your life to study medicine nah just forget about it.

No one's disputing that it's more deterministic than tech.

It's just that the trajectory matters less than you think when you factor in when it starts. A CS major starting at 150k at 23 years old in nyc is already accumulating wealth, compounding investments, and building equity. A doctor doesn't hit that 200k floor until 30 or 31 after residency. That's 7-8 years of difference. In that time, the software engineer has made roughly 1.05-1.2 million dollars before taxes, and a good chunk of that is already invested. By the time the doctor reaches 200k, the engineer is hitting 250-300k range at established companies or has moved into management.

it’s gonna stay the same for you through out your career

This ONLY applies if someone's static at one company doing the same thing for 20 years, which is literally not how tech actually works AT ALL.

Engineers move between companies, negotiate raises, shift into leadership, or do some entirely different shit like pivot into higher paying adjacent roles like management, architecture, or specialized teams. No shit some people get stuck. But that's not the normal trajectory for competent people. There's genuinely no way you think the ceiling is 150k your whole career??? Lmfao.

Many doctors start at 200k and yes the salary does cap at around 600k but almost every doctor get attain that salary bump if tried well enough. Whereas getting a salary bump as a CS major is luck

This is literally flipped?

Doctor salary is determined by specialty choice, board certification, and whether you stay in the field. Those are fixed gates.

CS salary is genuinely more flexibleyoYou can switch companies and negotiate 20-40% raises.
You can move into specialized roles (ML, security, system design) that pay more. You can move into management.

A doctor can't really do that without leaving medicine or adding another credential.

I'm not saying the "luck" factor doesn't exist. It does. It's just not the primary driver for most people making 250k+. It's usually deliberate job hopping, skill specialization, or actually being good at your job.

You also need to hail from a decent moneaxxed family cause If you plan on taking a loan throughout a decade of your life to study medicine nah just forget about it.

I'm not going to argue with this because you're completely right here.

I just personally believe that if you're starting from a position of financial security, medicine has a higher salary floor and a more predictable trajectory to 600k. Your 20s WILL be sacrificed, though. That's not even up for debate.

If you're starting from nothing or limited resources, CS is OBJECTIVELY the better financial move because you start earning 7-8 years earlier, the debt load is lower, and you're not betting your future on decade-long training with no income. The math changes dramatically based on your starting position.

 

[AverageCurryEnjoyer]

Np.

Discord or .org?

 

[Swarthy Knight]

Somewhat sui fuel knowing that I'm too retarded for 99% of these

 

[ajhrer]

i plan on going real estate. you think its worth it?

 

[Yahya]

mirin thread I haven't read the whole thing BUT regarding the first tier, STEM fields are oversaturated and you're competing against shitnics who are willing to work for 2% of what you would earn.

 

[holy]

Discord or .org?

.org. discord is absolutely cancer

 

[hej1377]

If youre smart and a nerd go into ai,if yiure smart and not a nerd or just a nepo baby go into finance, if youre a nerd and not smart go into law,if youre neither go into sales id yiure nt and carasmatic and hmtn+. Go into some fucked up blue collar if youre none of these like live on an oil rig or sum

 

[holy]

i plan on going real estate. you think its worth it?

if you're asking because you have capital, existing connections, or a specific strategy (like house hacking where you live in one unit and rent out others), then maybe. But be real about what you're getting into and have a plan beyond "muh buy property and make money."