Degrees in Transition II: Majors/Fields in Demand

03-06-2025 16:50 HKT

Last time, we explored university degrees with low starting salaries and declining pay trends. This week, we shift focus to those offering high starting salaries and strong wage growth.

Engineering Dominates the List

Engineering remains one of the highest-paying fields right out of college. According to Yahoo Finance, petroleum engineering leads with median starting salaries exceeding $100,000, thanks to high demand in energy sectors:

Computer Engineering (~$80,000 starting)
Electrical Engineering (~$75,000 starting)
Chemical Engineering (~$72,000 starting)
Nuclear Engineering (~$85,000 starting)

AI’s energy demands are fuelling a nuclear resurgence. In the past year alone, Microsoft signed a 20-year purchase agreement with nuclear power Constellation Energy, and Amazon has partnered with Talen Energy’s nuclear capabilities to power data centers.

These fields benefit from strong industry and technological advancements, ensuring long-term salary growth.

Computer Science & IT: The Tech Boom Continues

Unsurprisingly, computer science ranks among the best-paying majors. (Newsweek,2025) Specializations in artificial intelligence, cybersecurity, and data science command even higher pay due to rapid industry expansion.

Levels.fyi and BLS.gov highlight high-paying tech jobs, such as:

Cloud Architects ($150,000+)
DevOps Engineers ($130,000+)
Machine Learning Specialists ($120,000+)

With tech salaries rising faster than inflation, this field offers both immediate and long-term financial rewards. One counterpoint to note is the potential saturation. From the NY Fed’s data report, computer engineering and computer science have a 7.5% and 6.1% unemployment rate, with the former being one of the top 5. This data shows these industries are highly competitive, but with handsome rewards for the more competitive individuals. (Inc, 2025)

Business & Finance: High Earnings with Growth Potential

While not all business degrees guarantee high pay, quantitative-focused specializations stand out:

Finance & Economics (~$65,000 starting)
Actuarial Science (~$70,000 starting)
Management Information Systems (MIS)(~$68,000 starting)

Investment banking, consulting, and fintech roles push earnings even higher, with top performers reaching six figures early in their careers. Students with strong mathematical backgrounds may apply to the highly competitive 11-week program at Citadel, where one gets paid over $20,000 per month as an intern! Over 85,000 applicants every year, with less than 400 acceptances.

Unexpected High-Paying Careers: Freelancers & Digital Roles

Beyond traditional degrees, freelance and digital-first careers are now offering surprising earning potential. According to Forbes, roles like ethical hackers (testing systems by simulating cyberattacks) have salaries ranging from $140-300k, and voiceover artists (lending their voices to commercials, audiobooks) from $80-400k. CNBC reported one artist made over a million, though latest AI advancements in voice (e.g. podcast generation from Notebook LM) may provide cheaper alternatives.

And for those of you who are contemplating a career in hacking, I recommend reading the book “This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends” by Nicole Perlroth. You will learn about real-life people (like zero-day Charlie) and events (Stuxnet) and inner-workings (TAO) in this highly covert industry.

The rise of social media influencers - especially among Gen Alpha’s “dream jobs” - has also created lucrative opportunities. Fortune reports that top teen YouTubers and TikTokers earn six to seven figures through brand deals, sponsorships, and affiliate marketing.

Aside from Youtubers and TikTokers, other career aspirations include doctor/nurse, game developer, entrepreneur, artist, sports athlete, professional online streamer, and musician, per Whop’s 2024 survey in the US across 12-15 year olds.

Many of these careers can leverage platforms like Upwork and Fiverr, where freelancers set their rates for remote work. It gives them an opportunity for not just side-hustles and income, but empowers them to develop skills like self-marketing and business planning.

Conclusion: the skill set that different job roles require is changing due to the advent of AI. More and more hard skills can be replaced with AI, while repetitive work can be replaced by automation. Soft skills like networking, creativity, adaptability and resilience are becoming more sought after by employers. This, along with consistently upskilling yourself in the latest AI applications, should enhance career success.