Make More Money Through These Top 10 College Majors & In-Demand Jobs

When it comes to choosing a college major, there are a lot of aspects to factor in: What are your passions? What does the school you’re at offer? What’s practical in the real world?

With a changing economy and ever-shifting job force, it’s important to know which majors can help land you a job straight out of college versus which ones will have you struggling to pay rent.

According to the Washington Post, in 2014 only 17 percent of college seniors graduated with a job. These numbers aren’t meant to freak you out, but they may help guide current college students or incoming freshmen to make the right choice when it comes to choosing a college major.

With the cost of college skyrocketing these days, it’s important you get a return on your investment with a well-paying job. If you’re looking to choose a major that will help land you a stellar career, consider one of these ten top college majors that can lead to high-paying careers, according to information gathered by CareerBuilder.

1. Computer and Information Sciences

With over 600,000 monthly job postings and only 200,000 monthly hires, employees with computer science skills are high in demand, not to mention the average salary for someone working in computer science is $86,000 per year, according to Payscale.

2. Nursing

Nursing, as well as nursing administration, is a smart major to choose, as the average registered nurse makes $67,930 per year, according to TheNurseSalaryGuide.net. There is also a projected job growth of 9 percent in the next five years, according to CareerBuilder.

3. Pharmaceutical Sciences

You don’t have to be a doctor to earn a pretty high income. According to Payscale, employees with a pharmaceutical science degree average a $84,000 salary per year.

4. Human Resources Management and Services

There were over 1 million HR jobs in 2015, making this major a wise choice when it comes to a career. The average salary is about $50,000, according to Payscale, and salary can increase modestly in the first five to ten years.

5. Electrical and Electronics Engineering

Electrical engineers are in high demand, with less than half of posted positions being filled. To boost, an electrical engineer makes an average of $83,000 a year, according to Indeed.

6. Mechanical Engineering

With 40 percent growth in completions since 2009, mechanical engineering is another good choice of majors for people interested in designing and building. According to Payscale, the average salary is $62,257 a year.

7. Biology

Biology is a general major that can lead to a variety of jobs, especially since with over 19,000 job postings, there are only 5,000 monthly hires, according to CareerBuilder. A biology major can make between $38,000 to $135,000 per year, according to the Wall Street Journal.

8. Health Information/Medical Records Technology/Technician

Medical jobs are always necessary, and with only about one third of health information jobs being filled, there’s a lot of opportunity for these types of majors. Average salaries range from $35,900 to $92,810.

9. Legal Assistant or Paralegal

You don’t need to go through law school to have a lucrative career. Paralegal jobs are growing (a projected 8 percent in the next five years), and the average salary is $48,350 per year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.

10. Economics

The projected job growth of economics is a whopping 14.4 percent in the next five years, so now’s the time to choose the major. The average salary for an economics major ranges between about $42,000 and $100,000 a year, according to Payscale.