Top degrees that make you a “hot” commodity

For a majority of college students, whether they be undergraduates or in graduate school, being able to get a job right out of college is a huge concern. Fortunately, there are certain degrees that are more likely to obtain jobs quicker than others.

The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) recently put together a study on which college majors had the most success finding majors within six months after graduation. It collected data on close to 400,000 college students in different majors across the country.

The college major with the highest rate of employment right after school is computer sciences. It turns out that 72% of students concentrating in computer science were able to find a full-time job within six months of graduation, with the average starting salary sitting at about $69,000. The need for computer science majors only continues to increase, so this could easily top the list for years to come.

The second major with the highest potential for full-time employment is business. According to NACE, 66% of business graduates reported having full-time jobs within six months, and their average starting salary was $51,000. Having a business major is beneficial as it is extremely versatile and can be used in many different fields. This major is consistently at the top of many lists and proves to be a reliable career choice.

Consider this: Focusing on students with an MBA degree, more than 13,000 full-time students sought employment before graduating from 131 ranked graduate business schools in 2016, according to data submitted to U.S. News in an annual survey. Eighty-eight percent of those students were employed within three months of graduating.

Third on the list is a degree in engineering technology. Graduates from engineering technology programs have a 63% employment rate right out of college, and have average starting salaries of $54,000. As with computer science, the need for these types of jobs is only going to continue to increase, so these fields will grow.

Coming in number four on the list of top degrees for getting hired right out of college is engineering. From the data that NACE collected, 60% of students who graduate with majors in engineering are likely to obtain a job within six months out of school. Overall, the average starting salary for an engineering job is around $64,000, but this number greatly varies depending on the specific concentration with engineering. Certain fields, such as aeronautical or petroleum, have higher salaries than other more common engineering disciplines, but all of them are higher than the national average.

Continuing down the list are degrees in communications, education, architecture, and transportation. More than half of graduates of these degrees are able to find work within six months of finishing school, and starting salaries range from $36,000-$40,000.

Did you know?: According to the NACE report is the tendency of some new grads to seek less traditional employment options: freelancing, working contract-based gigs or becoming an entrepreneur.

Getting a job right out of college is a big concern that causes a lot of stress and anxiety in students. As you think about college degrees that will be the most advantageous, those in computer sciences, business, and engineering technology definitely top the list. These majors prove to have high employment rates and strong starting salaries. As these fields continue to grow, the need for educated graduates will only continue to increase.

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