3 College Majors With Declining Starting Salaries

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When it comes to choosing a college major, job prospects and salaries are two major factors to consider. Certain degree fields — particularly those in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) — have seen notable growth, but this isn’t the case for all college majors.

According to a recent National Association of College and Employers report, the following college majors have declining starting salaries. These results only include base salaries, not bonuses, commissions or other perks. Here are the three college majors that have declining salaries and four with rising salaries.

Social Sciences

• 2022 salary projection: $61,173
• 2024 salary projection: $69,802
• 2025 salary projection: $67,316
• Year-over-year decline: 3.6%

Common job titles for this major include social worker, sociologist, political scientist and economist.

Communications 

• 2022 salary projection: $55,455
• 2024 salary projection: $62,205
• 2025 salary projection: $60,353
• Year-over-year decline: 2.9%

College graduates with a communications degree often go for jobs in public relations, social media management or communications.

Math and Sciences

• 2022 salary projection: $66,760
• 2024 salary projection: $71,076
• 2025 salary projection: $69,709
• Year-over-year decline: 1.9%

Career options — and starting salaries — for those with a math or science vary greatly. Depending on the degree, titles could include data scientist, actuary, mathematician, statistician, environmental scientist, laboratory technician and so much more. Notably, many of these jobs require more than a bachelor’s degree.

Some College Majors Have Rising Salaries

There’s also been an increase in projected starting salaries for college graduates in the following fields.

Agricultural and Natural Resources

• 2022 salary projection: $57,807
• 2024 salary projection: $61,399
• 2025 salary projection: $63,122
• Year-over-year increase: 2.8%

Possible job titles in this degree field include agricultural tech, environmental engineer and food science technician.

Business

• 2022 salary projection: $60,695
• 2024 salary projection: $63,907
• 2025 salary projection: $65,276
• Year-over-year increase: 2.14%

As broad as this degree is, options for those starting out include marketing manager, financial controller and financial planning analyst. But as with many of these job titles, more than a bachelor’s degree may be required.

Computer Science

• 2022 salary projection: $75,900
• 2024 salary projection: $74,778
• 2025 salary projection: $76,251
• Year-over-year increase: 1.96%

Some possible job titles for these graduates include software engineer, computer programmer, website developer and information security analyst.

Engineering 

• 2022 salary projection: $73,922
• 2024 salary projection: $76,736
• 2025 salary projection: $78,731
• Year-over-year increase: 2.6%

Depending on the precise field of study, options include mechanical engineer, civil engineer, industrial engineer and electrical engineer. An advanced degree is usually required.

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