The Highest- and Lowest-Paying College Majors in 2026, by Federal Data
The gap between the best- and worst-paying bachelor's degree is $82,756 a year — and it opens up just four years after graduation. We pooled the U.S. Department of Education's field-of-study file across 202 bachelor's fields and measured each against the same yardstick we use everywhere on this site: the $48,360 a full-time worker with only a high-school diploma earns (BLS, 2024). Anything above that line is what the degree actually adds.
The eight highest-paying majors
Engineering and computing take almost every top seat. Median earnings are measured four years after completion (College Scorecard field-of-study, 2026 release).
| Major | Median earnings, 4 yrs out | Premium over HS |
|---|---|---|
| Operations Research | $122,531 | +$74,171 |
| Mathematics & Computer Science | $118,943 | +$70,583 |
| Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences | $116,539 | +$68,179 |
| Computer Engineering | $109,015 | +$60,655 |
| Computer Science | $107,009 | +$58,649 |
| Systems Engineering | $105,185 | +$56,825 |
| Petroleum Engineering | $104,823 | +$56,463 |
| Electrical & Electronics Engineering | $100,647 | +$52,287 |
The eight lowest-paying majors
To keep this fair, we limited the bottom list to fields graduating at least 2,000 students a year — no tiny, noisy cohorts. Every one of them lands below the high-school baseline four years out. That does not make them worthless, but it does mean the degree is not paying for itself on earnings alone.
| Major | Median earnings, 4 yrs out | Vs. HS baseline |
|---|---|---|
| Drama & Theatre Arts | $39,775 | −$8,585 |
| Dance | $39,980 | −$8,380 |
| Fine & Studio Arts | $41,367 | −$6,993 |
| Religion & Religious Studies | $41,390 | −$6,970 |
| Music | $42,892 | −$5,468 |
| Graphic Communications | $43,283 | −$5,077 |
The number that should worry you
Here is the finding that surprised us most. Across the 3,376 colleges we profile, the median institution's graduates earn $43,552 ten years after they enrol — below the $48,360 high-school line. Only 434 of those 3,376 schools clear their cost fast enough to earn our "Strong" verdict; 2,314 land in "Weak." The degree pays — but the field and the school decide by how much, and a large share of institutions are a worse bet than the sticker implies.
The takeaway is not "skip college." It is "price the major, not the diploma." A computer-science graduate clears a typical four-year net cost in about two years; a drama graduate may never clear it on the field median alone. Look up your field on the majors ranking, then check the specific school on its ROI profile before you sign anything.
Sources: College Scorecard field-of-study and institution files, 2026 release; BLS 2024 median earnings for high-school-diploma workers 25+. Field figures are national medians four years after completion; premiums and payback are our math, per the methodology. Cohort medians are not guarantees.