Quick wins for a faster PC:
Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Some links on this page are affiliate links: if you buy through them we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Comparing college majors by lifetime earnings, debt, and job prospects works best as a three-part review: compare earnings for people with similar degrees, borrowing for the same field and credential, and the outlook for occupations connected to that field. No source in this guide provides a dependable lifetime-earnings forecast for an individual student. Treat reported wages and employment outcomes as evidence about groups—not promises about what you will earn.
The steps below show how to build a fair comparison, interpret the available U.S. data, and account for factors a national major-level figure cannot capture, such as the college you attend, how much you borrow, whether you complete the degree, and where you plan to work.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
What do you need before comparing majors?
Start with a short list of majors you would genuinely consider, and decide what you mean by “job prospects.” A useful comparison looks at earnings, borrowing, unemployment or underemployment where available, and the occupations graduates may enter. It also records the year, population, credential, and geography behind every figure.
Use the same definitions for each major whenever possible. For example, do not compare annual wages for all workers with degrees in a broad field against earnings for recent graduates in a narrowly defined major as if they were the same population. The figures answer different questions.
Popular on Amazon
- Ideal for Gifting
- Ideal for a bookworm
- Compact for travelling
Before gathering figures, make a worksheet with one row per major and columns for:
- Earnings: the measure, data year, degree or credential, and population.
- Debt: median cumulative debt, the debt definition, credential level, and who is represented.
- Employment: unemployment or underemployment, with the population and date.
- Occupations: common occupations, their projected growth, typical entry-level education, and relevant geography.
- Time and completion: whether advanced education is common and what additional schooling may mean for time and borrowing.
- Your college-specific numbers: estimated net price after grants and scholarships, likely borrowing, and your realistic chance of completing the program.
The last set is personal planning information, not a national major statistic. A field-level debt median is not the same as the cost of attending a particular school, and neither tells you what aid you will receive.
The Tool Desk
Outbyte PC Repair FREEClear out junk files and repair common Windows errorsFree Scan →Outbyte Driver Updater FREEScan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minuteDriver Scan →Before you fill in the worksheet, define the comparison you want to make. A broad field comparison can help you screen options, while a decision between two programs at particular colleges requires program-level and school-specific information. If you are considering a path that may require graduate education, include that credential in your planning rather than treating all career outcomes as the result of an undergraduate major alone.
Keep the original source and its date beside each entry. If a figure is copied into a spreadsheet or notes document without its definition, it is easy to forget whether it describes annual or weekly earnings, all workers or recent graduates, a broad field or a specific major. Record enough detail that you can explain what each number measures when you revisit the comparison.
How do you compare earnings without mistaking them for lifetime income?
Use published wages as a snapshot of outcomes among workers in a field, not as a forecast of one person’s career. The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Field of Degree pages describe workers’ annual wages, occupations, and related occupational information by broad degree field.
For a concrete illustration, the BLS reported 2024 median annual wages of $100,000 for computer and information technology degree holders, $80,000 for business degree holders, and $57,000 for education degree holders. These are broad field-level medians, not lifetime earnings totals, entry-level salaries, or estimates of the salary effect caused by choosing one major. The figures are reported by the BLS for computer and information technology, business, and education fields; see its individual computer and information technology, business, and education pages for field details.
Do these 3 things before closing this tab:
1Clear out junk files and repair common Windows errors2Scan for outdated or missing drivers - takes under a minute3Repair Windows errors before they cause bigger problemsThese examples help show why the year and population belong beside every number. A median is the midpoint of a distribution: half of the measured group is above it and half below. It does not mean every graduate earns that amount, and it does not reveal how wages differ by occupation, experience, location, hours, or other circumstances. BLS explicitly notes that location, experience, and hours worked affect earnings and employment.
Also popular on Amazon
The field pages are useful for an initial comparison, but broad categories can cover workers in a range of occupations. Read the connected occupation information rather than assuming a single wage median describes every career associated with the field. Also check whether the field page reports a meaningful share of workers with advanced degrees: that detail can help you recognize when some outcomes may involve schooling beyond a bachelor’s degree.
For national context, BLS reported that in 2025 full-time wage-and-salary workers age 25 and older with a bachelor’s degree had median usual weekly earnings of $1,578 and an unemployment rate of 2.8%. Those are attainment-level measures for bachelor’s-degree holders, not comparisons among majors. The earnings figure is weekly, while the field figures above are annual; they should not be ranked against each other as if they were the same measure. BLS notes that its 2025 annual estimates omit October, when survey data were not collected during the federal shutdown. See BLS’s 2025 education and earnings tables and its Career Outlook explanation.
Use the national bachelor’s-degree figures as a reference point for education attainment overall, not as a benchmark that says a particular major should match or exceed. They combine outcomes across majors and are drawn from a defined group: people age 25 and older, with earnings reported for full-time wage-and-salary workers. If you are comparing two majors, the field-level data are more directly relevant to that question, while still remaining broad group measures.
Free tools Windows power users keep installed
One-click scans. No signup required.
If you want to reason about “lifetime earnings,” do not simply multiply a current median annual wage by the number of years you expect to work. That calculation would falsely imply a stable wage, uninterrupted employment, a known retirement date, and a personal outcome equal to the group median. The cited sources do not supply an individual lifetime-earnings forecast. Instead, use current wages to compare broad earning patterns, then assess career paths, additional education, likely borrowing, and uncertainty separately.
A useful way to discuss the result is to say that a field’s observed median is higher or lower in the stated year and population, then identify what you still need to know. For example: which occupations are represented, whether the path usually involves further education, and whether the likely work location changes the outlook. That approach avoids turning a descriptive statistic into a claim that one major causes a particular salary or guarantees a return.
How should you compare student debt by major?
Compare debt by both field of study and credential level, and check what the debt figure counts. The U.S. Department of Education’s College Scorecard field-of-study data documentation describes median cumulative debt at the reference school and median cumulative debt at any school attended. These are not interchangeable measures.
The reference-school figure concerns debt associated with the school used for the field-of-study record; the any-school measure captures debt at any school attended. When your source provides both, keep them in separate columns rather than combining or substituting one for the other. The documentation defines the analytical unit using an institution, a four-digit Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code, and a credential level. That makes credential matching important: a bachelor’s-level program and a different credential in the same general subject are not automatically comparable.
Also popular on Amazon
College Scorecard’s field measures have a federally aided student scope. Do not describe them as the debt of every student or as a complete accounting of every way college may be financed. The technical documentation also says the consumer-facing site provides completer counts, median earnings, and the two median cumulative debt measures by field of study for currently operating undergraduate institutions; more comprehensive data are available through downloadable files and the API. Consult the College Scorecard Field of Study Data Documentation, Version April 2025 when interpreting the measure.
When comparing schools, avoid reading a lower field median as proof that the college itself will be cheaper for you. The figures describe cumulative borrowing for students in the data’s scope and unit; they do not set your tuition bill or predict the aid package you may receive. Likewise, a higher median is a prompt to look more closely at program cost, borrowing patterns, and completion—not a complete explanation of why students borrowed that amount.
Debt is a borrowing-burden indicator, not a measure of total cost. It does not by itself tell you tuition, housing, books, grants, scholarships, family contributions, or the opportunity cost of time in school. Nor does a national or field-level median predict your own balance. For a decision about a specific offer, compare each college’s estimated net cost and aid with your likely borrowing and expected completion path, while keeping that school-specific exercise distinct from the national field comparison.
How do you evaluate job prospects beyond salary?
Look at the occupations associated with a field, not just its median wage. BLS Field of Degree pages connect degree fields to occupations and include occupational employment shares, projected growth, typical entry-level education, and the share of workers with advanced degrees. These details help explain what a field’s wage median may conceal.
What’s actually slowing this PC down?
Pick the symptom - the matching free tool is one click away.
For each major, identify several occupations connected to the field and record the BLS outlook information for those occupations. A degree field is not a single job: graduates may enter different roles, and each occupation can have a different education requirement and outlook. If a higher-paying path commonly requires graduate education, note the extra time and potential borrowing rather than attributing that outcome to the undergraduate major alone. The BLS Field of Degree portal links to field and occupation information.
For recent-graduate outcomes by major, the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s interactive feature reports measures including unemployment, underemployment, earnings, and outcomes over time. Use those as a separate evidence layer: recent graduates are not the same population as all workers in a broad BLS field, and the measures may cover different periods. The New York Fed states that the feature’s data do not represent official estimates of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, its President, the Federal Reserve System, or the Federal Open Market Committee. See The Labor Market for Recent College Graduates.
Unemployment and underemployment are related but distinct clues, and neither alone describes the full quality of a job match. Read the New York Fed feature’s definitions and time frame before using its figures. Then consider what its recent-graduate view contributes that a broad field wage does not: an additional perspective on outcomes early in graduates’ working lives. Keep that evidence in its own column rather than blending it with BLS field medians.
Also popular on Amazon
Do not collapse unemployment, underemployment, wage, and occupational growth into a single score unless you explain the formula and the different populations behind its inputs. A low unemployment rate does not necessarily mean a field has high wages; projected occupation growth does not guarantee a graduate will get a job. These measures are most useful as prompts for follow-up questions about likely roles, education requirements, and where those roles exist.
Geography matters when interpreting an occupation outlook. The occupation information can help you identify relevant locations and typical education requirements, but a national projection does not tell you exactly what hiring will look like in the place you hope to work. If location is important to your decision, write it down as a factor to investigate rather than assuming a national trend applies equally everywhere.
How do you make an apples-to-apples comparison?
Build the table in stages and label every number before ranking anything. A ranking that mixes incompatible populations can look precise while giving a misleading answer.
- Define the question. Decide whether you are comparing broad fields, specific majors, or programs at particular colleges. Do not treat those as interchangeable. A broad field is useful for an initial screen; a school-and-program decision needs school-specific cost and completion information too.
- Choose one earnings source and measure for the first pass. If you use BLS field medians, use that measure consistently across the fields you compare and preserve the source year. If you also consult recent-graduate earnings, put them in a separate column and label the cohort or period. Do not place figures from unlike groups in a single rank order without a clear warning.
- Match the credential. Use debt data for the credential level relevant to your plan. Record whether a debt figure refers to the reference school or any school attended, and note that the Scorecard measure covers federally aided students.
- Add labor-market indicators. Record unemployment and underemployment where available, with the source and date. Then list occupations associated with each field and note their projected growth and typical entry-level education. Keep each measure’s population and time frame visible.
- Account for additional education. Check the field page’s advanced-degree information and occupation-level entry requirements. If a path typically entails further study, treat the extra time and cost as part of the decision rather than assuming the bachelor’s degree alone produces the occupation’s outcomes.
- Add your school and personal constraints. Compare net price, grants and scholarships, expected borrowing, program requirements, likelihood of completion, and preferred work locations. National medians cannot answer these individual questions, but they can help you decide what to investigate.
- Use a range of evidence, not a winner-takes-all score. Note which major appears stronger on each dimension and where the evidence is uncertain or incomparable. A major that looks attractive on earnings may warrant closer scrutiny if it requires substantial additional education; another may fit your goals better despite a lower field median.
After filling in the table, review it for comparability before drawing conclusions. For each row, ask: Is the wage figure from the same year and type of population? Does the debt measure use the same credential and definition? Are the employment measures from comparable cohorts and periods? If any answer is no, label the mismatch. A visible limitation is more useful than a neat-looking but misleading rank.
A useful worksheet might look like this:
| Major or field | Earnings measure, year, population | Debt measure, credential, scope | Employment measure, cohort/date | Associated occupations and outlook | Personal and school-specific factors |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Field A | Enter a sourced figure and its definition | Reference-school and/or any-school median; note federal-aid scope | Enter the source’s population and date | List roles, growth, and entry education | Net price, aid, likely borrowing, completion, location |
| Field B | Use the same measure if possible | Use the same credential and debt definition | Use the same cohort/date if possible | Apply the same occupation-selection approach | Compare on the same basis |
Do not feel compelled to fill every cell with a number. A blank or qualified entry can be more honest than an unsupported estimate. The table is a decision aid: it makes clear which evidence is available and which questions still depend on a college’s offer, a program’s requirements, or your own goals.
Recommended Free Tools
What should you conclude from the comparison?
Use the evidence to narrow questions, not to declare a guaranteed “best-paying major.” If one field has a higher broad wage median, that is a reason to examine its occupations and requirements—not proof that any student choosing it will earn more over a lifetime. If one field has a lower median debt measure, remember the federally aided scope and distinguish the field figure from your likely cost at a particular college.
Give more weight to comparisons that align on year, population, field definition, and credential. When the measures do not align, say so and compare them qualitatively rather than manufacturing a single numerical ranking. The BLS’s 2024 field wages, the BLS’s 2025 bachelor’s-level national earnings and unemployment, College Scorecard debt data, and New York Fed recent-graduate outcomes answer related but different questions.
Also popular on Amazon
- It can be a gift option
- Comes with secure packaging
- Helpful in various ways
Finally, keep the personal decision in view. Major-level statistics cannot account for your interests, aptitude, preferred location, school-specific aid, ability to finish, or the local labor market you will enter. Those factors do not make public data useless; they define what the data can and cannot tell you.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I compare earnings for two majors if one source reports annual pay and another reports weekly pay?
Not as a direct ranking until the measures and populations are aligned. Keep the units and source definitions visible; an annual field median and weekly earnings for all bachelor’s-degree holders describe different groups and are not interchangeable.
Are the New York Fed’s recent-graduate figures official Federal Reserve estimates?
No. The New York Fed page says its feature does not represent official estimates of the New York Fed, its President, the Federal Reserve System, or the FOMC. Attribute the measures to the feature and preserve that qualification when presenting them.
Does a major with a higher median wage guarantee a better return on college costs?
No. A wage median alone does not include your school’s net price, aid, borrowing, completion likelihood, or any additional education a career path may require. It is one useful comparison point, not a personal return-on-investment calculation.
Do field-level wage medians tell me what I will earn after graduation?
No. The BLS figures describe workers in broad degree fields, not an individual student’s starting salary or lifetime earnings. Outcomes vary with factors including occupation, location, experience, and hours worked.
What is the difference between College Scorecard reference-school debt and any-school debt?
The measures use different debt scopes: one is associated with the reference school in the field-of-study record, while the other captures debt at any school attended. Keep them separate when both are reported, and compare the same credential level.
The Bottom Line
Compare majors with evidence that matches on year, population, field, and credential. Use BLS field wages and occupation information, College Scorecard debt measures, and New York Fed recent-graduate outcomes as distinct clues—not as a guaranteed lifetime forecast. Then pair those group-level statistics with the net price, likely borrowing, completion path, and work location relevant to you.
