Attention Economy


Friday, September 26, 2014

An Economic Approach to Picking College Majors

An interesting analysis by Ben Casselman:

Casselman notes:
“… These figures don’t necessarily mean that switching majors will bring a big financial boost. Economics majors, for example, earn $7,000 — 18 percent — more on average than “general business” majors, but economics is also generally considered a harder and more prestigious major, and therefore tends to draw more top students; it’s unlikely all those business majors could have gotten themselves a $7,000 raise just by switching to econ. Similarly, majoring in astrophysics won’t net a $62,000 salary for someone who flunks Calculus 101.”  

UPDATE:
College Majors and Earnings Potential