10 most popular majors and what they pay

If you're one of the millions of college and university students who are members of the Class of 2008, you may be pondering the first step on your career path. Despite an economic slowdown, there are still entry-level jobs in all career fields to be had.

What will your newly minted degree bring you? What are the starting salaries for recent college and university graduates? Using CBSalary.com, here are some of the most common majors, and what salary range a graduate entering the job market might expect to find.

Biology

Biology majors can use their degrees in a number of disciplines, including genetics, medical research and ecology. A general biologist starts out at $38,896, while a biochemist makes slightly more at $43,961.

Many students utilize their biology degree in conjunction with other degrees. A biology degree is often a preliminary step to medical school, or to other advanced degree.

A graduate degree is the key to landing jobs in microbiology, biotechnology, health care, and research and product development.

Beginning salary: Varies.
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Business administration and management

Business administration is one of the more lucrative majors in terms of starting salary. Graduates with a degree in business administration and management are often on track to eventually assume leadership roles, including becoming managers, executives and CEOs. Video Watch what new graduates face »

They may initially lead a business unit or oversee the company's real estate and infrastructure. Graduates with this degree often decide to continue their education to get their MBA.

Beginning salary: $57,132.

Communications

Communications at its core is the study of how we understand and interpret visual and verbal messages. In some ways, communications majors have some of the same skill sets as English majors and often compete for similar jobs.

Careers for this major can include jobs like public relations, reporting and advertising. It can also be applied in other ways, like speech writing or public speaking.

Beginning salary: $30,921.

Computer science

A computer science degree can be used in a number of careers because of the variety of skills that graduates learn. Those skills range from developing software and analyzing systems to more advanced skills like working with language recognition programs and other types of artificial intelligence. Jobs in this field include network analyst, database administrator and Web developers.

Computer science is a field that continues to grow as people and companies expand their use of technology. Workers have the opportunity to break into the six-figure range later in their careers.

Beginning salary: $46,849.

Criminal justice

Graduates with a degree in criminal justice have a number of options for their career path. One initial choice is becoming a police officer. Graduates can also become join state or federal police agencies.

They can also become involved with other related areas like law, working as a legal assistant or court administrator, or work for a government agency like the FBI, CIA or Homeland Security.

Some students who combine a criminal justice degree with other disciplines like psychology and sociology. Those graduates can earn a substantially higher beginning salary.

Beginning salary: $38,182.

Elementary education

Education continues to be a popular major and teachers continue to be sought after throughout country. which explains why it is one of the few industries to add workers in 2008.

Despite the importance of the role that an elementary teacher has in a child's education, the beginning salary for a new teacher is the lowest of the 10 most popular majors.

Beginning salary: $29,414.

Marketing

The demand for marketing jobs can vary by industry and geography and can be very lucrative. Graduates with a marketing degree can specialize in marketing research, specialize in promotions or public relations, or focus on sales and marketing strategies.

They can also be involved in the creative side of marketing and utilize visual art or writing skills. Marketing jobs are available in a wide range of industries and even in local, state and federal government agencies.

Beginning salary: $59,471.

Nursing

Nursing is the largest industry in health care, with 25 million workers, and is another industry that is adding workers in 2008. Nurses are in high demand nearly everywhere in the country. Registered nurses, who provide a range of general care, are always in demand.

Graduates have a wide range of choices as to what kind of care they wish to provide. There are also jobs in home health care, as well as jobs where nurses can be educators and patient advocates.

Beginning salary: $41,173.

Psychology

The subject of psychology is a captivating, compelling topic for many students, and is the second most popular major. Graduates with this degree may work in entry-level jobs as school counselors or substance abuse counselors.

Many advanced jobs, like being a clinical psychologist, social psychologist, or developmental psychologist, require specialized advance degrees or a doctoral degree. Over a third of all psychologists enter private practice or have their own private research firms, but research and teaching jobs are also available at colleges and universities.

Beginning salary: $46,153.

Political science

Politics is far more than local, state, and federal elections. Political science majors can work in a number of roles, including working for political parties in administrative positions or as analysts.

Forty-one percent of all workers with this major are employed by government agencies. Some common career paths for political science majors include lobbyist and diplomat. They may also work in the media as a journalist in an editorial capacity or for nonprofit organizations.

Beginning salary: $36,368.

Other majors

Of course, actual beginning salaries for all majors are influenced by a number of external factors:

• Finance and economics are two of the most lucrative and popular majors for students, but the current economic slowdown has also slowed the demand for those workers.

• Engineering is a growing field that is always in need of skilled workers. There are dozens of specialized engineering career paths available. An engineer's beginning salary can vary widely depending on the graduate's specific area of study.

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The Top 10 Steps for Choosing a Career

The Top 10 Steps for Choosing a Career

Career choices may well be more difficult today than at any time in history, for three reasons: there is infinitely more to choose from; career definitions are more fluid and changing; and the levels of expectation are rising. Most men and women entering the workforce today can expect to change careers three or more times during their working lives. Here are ten steps that will help ensure that your choices are good ones.


1. Begin with your values.

What's really important to you? What turns you on? What do you like to do so much that you would almost feel guilty getting paid to do it? These questions are designed to help you get at one of the key elements in career choice: values. Your values are the emotional anchor of all that you do. Satisfying careers are built upon the notion of a high correspondence between one's personal values and the work they will be doing. Begin your career search by sorting out your values and writing them down as clearly and succinctly as you can.

2. Identify your skills and talents.

A skill is something you've learned to do. A talent is something you've been born with, or at least that you seem naturally qualified to do. It's important to recognize the difference between the two. You may be skilled at something and still not find it interesting. Chances are, however, if you are naturally talented at something, there will be a correspondence between that particular talent and your values. Put another way: you are more apt to enjoy doing what you do well naturally than what you have simply been taught to do.

3. Identify your preferences.

From early on, we approach the world with certain personal preferences--how we perceive others, how we think and make decisions, whether we prefer concepts over people or vice versa, and the extent to which we are comfortable with uncertainty in our lives. For many, these preferences operate at a subconscious level, but they strongly influence the way we function with others. Some questions may help: Do you regard yourself as highly intuitive? Are you outgoing or reserved? When faced with a decision, do you rely primarily on facts or feelings? Your answers to these questions can tell you much about the kinds of work you will find interesting and challenging. One way of sorting this all out is by taking the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator a self-assessing instrument that helps clarify these issues. If you haven't taken it in the past year, or at all, I strongly recommend that you take it and include your results in your career deliberations.

4. Experiment.

There's no substitute for experience, the more the better. It's probably safe to say that nearly every career looks vastly different from the outside than from within. If you're new to the job market or if you are considering a career change, get out and talk to people who are actually doing it. Take a job in the field or industry and see for yourself if it's really all you thought it would be. And don't rely on a single authority or work experience. Within the bounds of the area you've picked, try to get as much and as varied experience as you can. If you're committed to finding out about a certain career, you may want to consider volunteering in order to gain work experience. That way, you'll be able to test out whether it fits your values and preferences. If you aren't getting paid to do it, chances are you won't stay with it unless you like it.

5. Become broadly literate.

In this high tech information world, there is an incredible pressure to specialize, to know more and more about less and less. That's dangerous, because it increases your chances of being obsolescent immensely. Many people lose their jobs and scuttle their careers because they have gradually developed tunnel vision about who and what they are and what their capabilities are. The old debate over specialist versus generalist is being tempered by a new term: the generalist/specialist. That's the individual who has been able to grasp the large picture while, at the same time, becoming expert on several of its parts. That's what becoming broadly literate is all about. Learn as much as you can about what interests you and about the jobs and careers your're considering--not just what those involved are currently doing, but about where the industry or profession is heading.

6. In your first job, opt for experience first, money second.

If you're at the top of your class graduating summa cum laude, you may be able to combine both in a single package, but for most new entrants into the workforce, it's a matter of priorities. A good way of sizing up several opportunities is to ask yourself: "Which position will offer me the best chance of becoming excellent at what I do?" And that may not be the one that pays the highest initial salary.

7. Aim for a job in which you can become 110% committed.

Modest decication and average performance are unacceptable today. The problem is, with downsizing becoming fully acceptable you aren't likely to discover the truth of that statement until you're out of a job! So, how to protect yourself? If you aren't able to commit 110% to what you are currently doing, start NOW to find something in which you can.

8. Build your lifestyle around your income, not your expectations.

Recruiters are famous for courting desirable applicants with promises such as: "Why, in two years, you could be making X thousands of dollars". The problem is that many new entrants into the job force buy into this line and begin living as though they were making the kind of money promised in two years. A better way is to begin, right with your first job, to structure your lifestyle in such a manner that you can put away ten percent of every paycheck. Starting early and investing regularly and wisely are probably two of the greatest secrets of wealth accumulation.

9. Invest five percent of your time, energy, and money into furthering your career.

In terms of a forty-hour week, that's only two hours per week. The point is, you cannot rely on your employer to spoon feed you. Employers today are oriented towards immediate returns on their dollar. They will invest in you only when they can see an immediate or relatively quick expensive benefit, or when they see extraordinary potential. Better to not count on either. Dedicate yourself to getting ahead by keeping ahead, and you do that be controlling the one thing you can control: your dedication to being the best that you can be.

10. Be willing to change and adapt.

If you re-read the preceding steps in this list, you'll note an absence (refreshing, I hope) of emphasis upon goal-setting and a substitution instead, of words like "values", "skills", "talents", and "preferences". It's not that goals aren't useful, but rather that they should emerge naturally from these other factors and, even though you may write them down and paste them on your mirror, they should not obscure the need to be willing to change and adapt to new conditions, your own growth, and developing opportunities. The distinction here is between "direction" and "plan". An ant has a direction, but not a plan. The ant knows where it wants to go and is willing to turn around, back up, and change course in order to get there. But the ant hasn't written it down, posted it on a bulletin board, or gained concurrence from all the other ants. The ant just knows, with absolute certainty, the general direction in which it's heading and that it WILL get there. That's what modern day career direction is all about.

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