Top Jobs for Grads: National Association For Colleges And Employers 2011 Spring Survey

If you're looking for steady work at a nice rate right out of college, we hope you're an engineering major. According to the National Association of Colleges Employers' Spring 2011 Salary Survey, students studying engineering are the most desirable to employers -- a change from their winter survey, which reported accounting majors as being most in demand.

In more salary news, those graduating in 2011 can expect an average starting salary of $50,462 -- a 5.9 percent increase from the average offer to 2010 grads.

NACE's quarterly report looks at salary information in 70 disciplines and uses data provided by college career services throughout the nation.

Below, check out the top majors for jobs and their average starting salaries.

Do you have a job locked down for next year? Share your story in the comments section.

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Chemical engineering: $66,886

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Comments

[BikerDad888]

01:16 AM on 04/26/2011

It is interesting to note that IT jobs still belong to the most stable list... Coming from an IT background as a Software Engineer, I beg to disagree with the results... http://universityadmissionsguide.com/aol-top-10-most-secure-careers-and-jobs-for-2011.html

On the other hand, other engineering jobs like chemical, electronics, electrical, and mechanical are still in high demand especially in the "Green" Initiative. If the engineers are imaginative and creative enough, they can create solutions that will be beneficial not only for their careers but also to the planet.

[jf12]

11:27 AM on 04/25/2011

I work in chemical engineering. We're still laying off.

[BikerDad888]

12:04 PM on 04/26/2011

I worked as a software engineer for 7 years. And then lately, I was asked on the interview by the interviewer what country are you from. And the interview was obviously not from this country. Instead of asking me about my qualifications. And many Indian staffing companies are making hiring overseas programmers because they can charge them fees as "security deposit" to sponsor them so they can work in the US... At the same time, many of these companies get jobs from US companies and ship it to India.

[AgedInWood]

01:55 AM on 04/19/2011

Now I know why I should've paid more attention in math class. :/

[fem56]

11:05 PM on 04/18/2011

Nurses are always needed and their starting salary is pretty good as well. I would say jobs in the health industry are much better bets unless you love engineering. Actually I think it makes sense to do what you love. You are going to not only be a lot happier and you are going to be a lot better at it. If you love English major in English. You don't have to teach English or become a professional writer. You will be a more interesting employee because you did what you loved plus those writing skills will be a tremendous asset to any company. Enough with these lists!

[Vic22]

04:05 PM on 04/18/2011

Can a nizzle get some standard deviations?

[catsampsontweet]

03:12 AM on 04/18/2011

Interesting nothing was mentioned regarding Social Media.

-Cat
http://catsampson.com

[BikerDad888]

12:17 PM on 04/26/2011

Social media is a new thing. That is why being a software engineer still belongs to the top careers because they can maintain trouble shoot and design internet applications.

- BikerDad888
http://universityadmissionsguide.com

[catsampsontweet]

12:29 PM on 04/26/2011

I need to find me one of them!

[becky bradshaw]

09:30 AM on 04/17/2011

The number of "mega-yachts", 75-feet-long+, has doubled in the last 10 years to more than 2,500, and the growth-rate is expected to increase. There are more than 2,000 yachts in the world measuring a hundred feet, but if you want to make a real impression, your yacht needs to measure at least 200 feet. Still this would be less than half the size of yachts for the uber-wealthy. The Mega-Yacht and Super-Yacht Business is Booming, and these limousines of the Seas Need Crew. Deckhands, Chefs, Butlers, Stewardesses and Cute Hostesses are urgently needed. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/13345720/ns/business-cnbc_tv/#)

Make Some Money, See the World, and Share Time with Elite People. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXVxPpvIszY

[MatthewM]

02:05 AM on 04/17/2011

Unfortunately these jobs only pay well if you can get them. I graduated top of my class in engineering with a bachelor's and master's degree from some of the top schools in the nation and still looking for a job over half a year later. There has been *very* few entry-level positions in my field, although things are slowly starting to improve.

[500 a]

01:50 AM on 04/17/2011

There are only a handful of majors that actually make sense for racking up loans.  At least people with technical degrees can make the payments on their student loans.

[yakmeat]

02:28 AM on 04/16/2011

I remember when my friend finished college and got a $60,000/year engineering job - in 1995.

[realpragmatist]

11:41 AM on 04/16/2011

That is very rare.

Yours friend must have been outstanding and lucky. I know some very bright people who started with $49K at that time in the N.California area (Silicon Valley). That was lots of money for starting jobs at that time even in the Silicon Valley. I am talking about Masters and Phds with mostly a 4.0 CGPAs (none of them below 3.5).

[absolument]

03:01 AM on 04/13/2011

Every single category was engineering, most of them having to do with computers. Nothing wrong with that, for an in-depth examination of tech careers. But if it's meant to cover all college graduates, the engineering specialties need to be merged together a bit so it's not just a report on engineering majors.

[green95gt]

11:03 AM on 04/12/2011

ok that's great...now how many of these jobs actually exist compared to 10-15 yrs ago for college grads????

[Michael Morrison]

03:53 PM on 04/13/2011

All of those majors have been around for many years.

Chemical, Mechanical, and Electrical Engineering have been around for more than a century.

[lilpeg]

10:22 AM on 04/12/2011

Very few jobs on this list that are about people making "things" not just handing around information. How about agriculture, environmental and energy engineering. One would think they would be more useful.

[Biojohn]

11:08 AM on 04/12/2011

8 out of 10 of the jobs are about people making "things".

[Michael Morrison]

03:54 PM on 04/13/2011

...Chemical Engineers make chemicals. Mechanical Engineers make all sorts of gadgets. Industrial Engineers design factories to make gadgets...Uhm, how much more useful could you get than these?

[HonkyTonkMan]

08:54 PM on 04/11/2011

What is the computer engineer doing?

[realpragmatist]

01:35 AM on 04/12/2011

Dreaming big I suppose!

[Klaus Baudelaire]

10:13 AM on 04/20/2011

I'm a CE and it's kind of similar to electrical engineering, some schools have CE as a concentration of electrical engineering some have a seperate major as my school does. It's a combiantion of electrical engineering and computer science to optimize the interaction between hardware and software. classes incluse things like computer architecture, networks, and haptic systems.

[realpragmatist]

07:23 PM on 04/11/2011

What about being a Doctor, Lawyer, or medical fields like Microbiologist etc?

Are they not well paying jobs or these are jobs considered just out of graduation? Engineering fields are also professional fields like being a Doctor, Lawyer, CPA, are they not?

[iwinagin]

09:16 PM on 04/11/2011

Doctors and Lawyers are require additional education that is not exclusive to any educational major. For example a business major an engineering major and a biology major can all go on to become Lawyers or Doctors. This list is simply representative of average starting wage for 4 year college majors.

[realpragmatist]

02:00 AM on 04/12/2011

Thank you for your simple explanation.