Thanks to today's pathetic job market, many high schoolers and college students are choosing their major based upon where they think jobs will be available when they graduate.

Another consideration in choosing your major is money.  Now, I am not suggesting that anyone should pick a particular major based solely on how much money you can make over the life of a career.  But it is one factor to consider.

So for all the high school juniors and seniors, high school grads about to declare a major or college students thinking of switching majors, I want to clear up any misconceptions about which majors are the highest paying... you just might be surprised. 

Many students and parents believe that a business major is among the most lucrative majors.

Wrong… according to a new survey from one of our favorite career websites, www.pay-scale.com, when mid-career salaries of dozens of majors were ranked, business came in as the 59th best-paying college degree.

You'll soon see that the 20 highest-paying college degrees involve a lot of hard work and commitment.  Plus every single one of them requires advanced math courses.

There are no "let me get my degree and get out of here" majors on this list!

Without further ado:

20 Best-Paying College Degrees by Salary in 2011

         College Degree                          Mid-Career Median Salary

1. Petroleum engineering                  $155,000
2. Chemical engineering                   $109,000
3. Electrical engineering                   $103,000
4. Material science & engineering       $103,000
5. Aerospace engineering                  $102,000
6. Physics                                      $101,000
7. Computer engineering                   $101,000
8. Applied mathematics                      $98,600
9. Nuclear engineering                        $97,800
10. Biomedical engineering                    $97,800
11. Economics                                    $94,700
12. Mechanical engineering                   $94,500
13. Statistics                                     $93,800
14. Industrial engineering                      $93,100
15. Civil engineering                             $90,200
16. Mathematics                                  $89,900
17. Environmental engineering                $88,600
18. Management Info. Systems              $88,200
19. Software engineering                      $87,800
20. Finance                                        $87,300

For tips in succeeding in the post college world, check out:

• How to Land Your Dream Job
• Tips for Salary Bargaining and Negotiations
• Finding Insurance Coverage After College

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