Electrical, computer, and petroleum engineering claim the top three positions in Bankrate’s recently released 2024 analysisof the most and least valuable college majors. This analysis marks a significant jump for petroleum engineering which was listed in 30th place in Bankrate’s 2021 analysis.
Using college majors with at least 250 people, Bankrate, a consumer financial services company, used data from the US Census Bureau’s American Community Survey, covering 152 different college majors, to determine the rankings. Their analysis considers where degree holders stand in regards to median income, unemployment rates, and how many degree holders went on to earn a higher degree.
Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) degrees round out the top 10 most valuable college degrees with engineering majors claiming eight of the top 10. Bankrate’s 2024 analysis of petroleum engineering reported a median salary of $100,000, an unemployment rate of 0.9%, and 32.9% of respondents reporting earning an advanced degree. In the 2021 analysis, the median salary was reported as $94,000, with a 5.2% unemployment rate, and 30% advanced degree holders.
