College Grads Make Good Money Quickly With These Degrees

First of all, congrats to all of you at SFA and Angelina College who are about to graduate.  We know how much work went into getting that degree, and we'll be high fiving you on May 12th when you get your diplomas. If you're getting a degree in one of these areas, you can make big bucks right away.If you majored in engineering, you're gonna do well.  Engineers have been on all of the "best jobs" lists lately, and the salaries are good even for the newest workers in the field.  Engineering degrees are all over the top ten when it comes to the highest salaries right after college.

These are the 20 highest paying bachelor's degrees, according to StudyInternational.com, and what grads can expect to make right out of the gate.

1 Petroleum Engineering $94,600
2 Actuarial Mathematics $56,400
3 Actuarial Science $61,200
4 Nuclear Engineering $69,000
5 Chemical Engineering $70,300
6 Marine Engineering $73,900
7 Economics and Mathematics $60,000
8 Geophysics $54,100
9 Cognitive Science $54,000
10 Electrical Power Engineering $68,600
11 Aeronautical Engineering $65,300
11 Electrical & Computer Engineering (ECE) $69,000
13 Computer Systems Engineering $72,000
14 Bioengineering $61,600
14 Computer Science (CS) & Engineering $70,900
16 Computer Engineering (CE) $70,300
17 Electrical Engineering (EE) $67,800
18 Computer Science (CS) & Mathematics $62,800
18 Industrial & Systems Engineering $65,700
20 Naval Architecture & Marine Engineering $68,200

Money isn't everything, but it's nice when you have it.  And if you're going to work in the engineering field or with computers after college, you will have quite a bit of it if this Payscale report lives out in real life.

Based on this list, it's not necessarily a degree from the University of Michigan or Harvard or Stanford that produces the salary -- it's the major.  So if you've got the bachelor's degree from Stephen F. Austin in one of these fields you're going to be competitive in your industry, and you might have saved some money on college tuition over the past few years too.  Nice job.

Oh, and if you're in high school or college now, pay attention in those STEM classes!  Courses in the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics fields are all over the top 20 on Payscale’s list.  The first non-STEM course of Government doesn't show up until number 36.

Congrats, and good luck!

Angelina College Commencement Services:

Saturday, May 12, at 10 am and 2 pm.

10:00 a.m.
Tech Workforce
Math/Science
Language Arts and Education
Early College/Paramus

2:00 p.m.
Health Careers
Fine Arts
Social/Behavioral Sciences and Business
Stephen F. Austin Graduation:

Saturday, May 12, at 9:30am and 2pm.

9:30 a.m. -James I. Perkins College of Education or the College of Fine Arts

2:00 p.m. - Nelson Rusche College of Business, the Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, the College of Liberal and Applied Arts, or the College of Sciences and Mathematics.