Liberal Arts Majors That Pay You Back: PayScale Data

This from the Huffington Post:

A new report on the salary potential of colleges and majors from PayScale makes one thing pretty clear: an engineering student can expect to make a lot more than than someone studying creative writing.

Eight of the top 10 majors with the highest earning potential are engineering fields, according to PayScale, the other two rounding out the top being computer science and physics. A liberal arts major doesn't show up until "Government" lands at No. 14. The next liberal arts field comes in at 28 with "International Relations."

In case you're wondering about many of your favorite HuffPost scribes, "Broadcast Journalism" lands at No. 69, followed by "Journalism" at 72, coming in just ahead of zoology and geography.
PayScale's salary report is based on surveys collected from approximately 1.4 million employees. All jobs are included, not just those specific to the major, PayScale said, but advanced degrees are not considered.

Most liberal arts majors are likely used to being told they aren't going to make as much as their counterparts in the science and business colleges of their universities, though many would counter they chose their field because they found it more fulfilling.

Considering the top of PayScale's data was so heavily packed with technical fields, we decided to break out the liberal arts majors to reveal which ones have the highest earning potential.

• 1     Government

   

  Starting Median Salary: $43,200 Mid-Career Median Salary: $97,100

• 2      International Relations

  

  Starting Median Salary: $41,700 Mid-Career Median Salary: $85,700

• 3     Advertising

   

  Starting Median Salary: $40,000 Mid-Career Median Salary: $79,400

• 4     Philosophy

   

  Starting Median Salary: $39,700 Mid-Career Median Salary: $78,300

• 5     Fashion Design

   

  Starting Median Salary: $39,400 Mid-Career Median Salary: $77,100

• 6     Political Science

   

  Starting Median Salary: $41,700 Mid-Career Median Salary: $77,000

• 7     Linguistics

   

  Starting Median Salary: $39,700 Mid-Career Median Salary: $76,800

• 8     Architecture

   

  Starting Median Salary: $41,900 Mid-Career Median Salary: $75,800

• 9     Global & International Studies

   

  Starting Median Salary: $39,600 Mid-Career Median Salary: $73,200

• 10     English Literature

   

  Starting Median Salary: $40,800 Mid-Career Median Salary: $71,400