Yes. Earning a college degree is worth it and pays off over your lifetime. Workers with a bachelor's degree earn 70% more at the median than workers with only a high school diploma, and they face a far lower unemployment rate: 2.9%, compared to 6.2% for high school-only workers, according to Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce.
Georgetown's research also found that median earnings vary widely by field, from $58,000 in education and public service to $98,000 in STEM fields. The degree matters. But if you’re looking to maximize earnings, the field can also matter.
What majors make the most money? A field-by-field breakdown
If you're looking for online degrees that pay well, a pattern holds across nearly every field: technical specialization and management responsibility both push earnings up. Here's how it breaks down by area, using median wage, job growth and postings data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Engineering degrees
Engineering consistently ranks among the highest-paying degrees, and the ceiling gets even higher in management.
Architectural and engineering managers
- Median salary: $167,740
- Projected growth: 4%
- Job postings: 14,500
ASU program matches:
- Bachelor of Science in engineering in engineering management
- Master of Engineering – engineering management emphasis
Electrical engineers
- Median salary: $118,780
- Projected growth: 7%
- Job postings: 17,500
ASU program matches:
- Bachelor of Science in engineering in electrical engineering
- Master of Science in engineering in electrical engineering
Construction managers
- Median salary: $106,980
- Projected growth: 9%
- Job postings: 46,800
ASU program matches:
- Bachelor of Science in construction management and technology
- Master of Science in construction management and technology
Industrial engineers
- Median salary: $101,140
- Projected growth: 11%
- Job postings: 25,200
ASU program match:
Technology, data and computer science degrees
This is the field where salary and job growth opportunities climb together. Several of these roles are among the fastest-growing occupations tracked by the BLS.
Data scientists
- Median salary: $112,590
- Projected growth: 34%
- Job postings: 23,400
ASU program matches:
- Bachelor of Science in data science
- Master of Science in business analytics
- Master of Science in applied statistics and data science
Information security analysts
- Median salary: $124,910
- Projected growth: 29%
- Job postings: 16,000
ASU program matches:
- Bachelor of Science in information technology
- Bachelor of Science in information technology – cybersecurity
Computer and information research scientists
- Median salary: $140,910
- Projected growth: 20%
- Job postings: 3,200
ASU program matches:
Software developers, QA analysts and testers
- Median salary: $131,450
- Projected growth: 15%
- Job postings: 129,200
ASU program match:
Business and finance degrees
Finance and operations leadership pay well, but the path typically requires experience and often a graduate degree.
Financial managers
- Median Salary: $161,700
- Projected growth: 15%&
- Job postings: 74,600
ASU program match:
Management analysts
- Median salary: $101,190
- Projected growth: 9%
- Job postings: 98,100
ASU program match:
General and operations managers
- Median salary: $105,350
- Projected growth: 4%
- Job postings: 331,000
ASU program match:
Marketing, communication and analytics degrees
Marketing pays better than most people assume, with a wide range of categories and industries you can specialize in.
Marketing managers
- Median salary: $159,660
- Projected growth: 6%
- Job postings: 36,400
ASU program matches:
- Master of Science in marketing
- Master of Arts in communication
- Master of Science in technical communication
Market research analysts
- Median salary: $76,950
- Projected growth: 7%&
- Job postings: 87,200
ASU program matches:
Health care degrees
The highest-paying roles in health care are often connected to psychology or medical administration. They also usually require graduate education.
Clinical and counseling psychologists
- Median salary: $94,310
- Projected growth: 6%&
- Job postings: 12,900
ASU program matches:
Medical and health services managers
- Median salary: $117,960
- Projected growth: 23%
- Job postings: 62,100
ASU program matches:
How to choose the right high-ROI degree for you
The highest median salary isn't always the right answer for you. A few questions help narrow it down:
What's the actual growth rate, not just the salary?
A salary tells you what a job pays right now. The growth rate tells you how many of those jobs will exist by the time you're ready for one.
The contrast is sharpest in technology. Data science and information security are projected to grow several times faster than the average occupation, leading to more openings and more opportunities to move between employers. Architectural and engineering management, by comparison, is projected to grow modestly. This isn’t because the field is struggling, but because it's a smaller and already established profession.
Slow growth isn't a warning sign on its own. Established fields still open positions frequently as people retire, move up or change careers. A mature profession can also be a steadier place to grow than a fast-growing one. What you want to avoid is assuming that a high salary guarantees opportunity. In a field with limited growth, that salary is real, but more people are usually competing for each opening.
Does the role need a graduate degree to be realistic?
Some of the best-paying roles in this breakdown require graduate education. Financial managers and computer and information research scientists typically expect an advanced degree, significant experience or both. Clinical and counseling psychologists need a doctorate and state licensure.
That's not a reason to rule out those fields. A graduate degree gives you deeper expertise in your field and access to senior, specialized roles that tend to pay the most. Instead, it’s simply something to plan for rather than discover later. Knowing it's part of the path lets you build your timeline and your budget around a graduate degree from the start.
One way to plan for it is to pursue an accelerated master's program online at ASU. These programs let you start graduate coursework while you're still an undergraduate and apply those credits toward both degrees, so you save time and money. You move straight from your bachelor's into your graduate program without a gap or a separate application. You’ll graduate with your master’s degree in as little as one year after completing your bachelor’s degree and earn the advanced expertise employers look for in higher-level roles.
What's the field's actual entry point?
Every salary in this article is a median. And nearly all of the highest-paying roles here are jobs people arrive at, not jobs they start in.
Marketing is the clearest example. A marketing manager's salary is more than double that of a market research analyst, but the analyst role is the realistic first job for many marketing graduates and a step that can lead to the manager title later.
The same pattern holds elsewhere. Financial managers typically spend years as analysts or accountants first. Architectural and engineering managers were engineers before they managed anyone.
This is also why the number of openings matters as much as the salary. Some of the highest-paying roles here sit in small fields with relatively few positions to fill in any given year, while others turn over constantly. A slightly lower ceiling with far more jobs and opportunities can be the better bet depending on your goals.
Find the degree that’s right for you
The numbers can only take you so far. What you want your working life to look like matters just as much: whether you want to manage people or stay hands-on, work independently or on a team, stay in one city or travel for work. The right degree is the one that matches your goals and lifestyle preferences, along with the growth, the education path and salary you’re interested in.
No matter which path is best for you, ASU has a degree to take you where you want to go, and a track record of graduates who get hired. Ranked #2 in the U.S. for employability among public universities, ASU offers more than 400 online programs across engineering, technology, business, health care and more, with hundreds of additional degrees available on campus if you prefer to learn in person. Career services, industry partnerships and hands-on coursework are included across programs and online learning so you graduate ready to succeed and advance in your career.