Want to guide your son or daughter toward a college major that has
the best chance of leading to a good-paying job? If so, then there’s no better
choice than pharmacy or pharmaceutical sciences, according to Kiplinger
Personal Finance magazine.
Kiplinger analyzed 95 college majors to determine majors
that statistically lead to the highest employment rates for both college
graduates and experienced workers. It also examined the college majors that lead
to the best paychecks right out of college and that have the best prospects for
job growth.
Topping the magazine’s list
of lucrative majors was pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences. Computer science,
civil engineering, information systems management, and nursing were also in the
top 5. They were followed by information systems, finance, math, information
science, and construction.
The magazine also identified the worst college majors, in terms of
job prospects and pay, as human services and community organization, fine arts,
social work, early childhood education, and art history. Slightly better, but
also on the worst college majors list, were interdisciplinary studies, studio
arts, mass media, humanities, and family consumer sciences.
Pharmacy and pharmaceutical sciences were cited because of the
mid-career salaries ($120,000), low mid-career unemployment rate (2.5%), and
projected job growth (36.4%).
“Students in this field graduate into a welcoming job market and
have the second-lowest unemployment rates on this list (after nursing),” the
magazine said. “The starting pay may fall a bit short of the national median,
but by mid-career you stand to earn the highest income of any grads with our
best majors.”
The magazine also cited jobs other than pharmacist for which a
pharmacy or pharmaceutical science major can qualify. “But if a career behind a
CVS counter isn’t in the cards, a bachelor’s in pharmacy can also start grooming
you to work as a medical scientist, doing research to design and develop drugs,”
the magazine said.
