Students are becoming savvier consumers when it comes to postsecondary education. In an AEI report published earlier this month, I documented that low-quality colleges are seeing massive declines in enrollment. These trends in consumer choice extend to what students elect to study once they arrive on campus. Increasingly, students are majoring in subjects with higher typical salaries.
In total, the Class of 2023 earned 2.1 million bachelor’s degrees—up from around 1.8 million degrees awarded to the Class of 2010. But almost all of that increase is down to rising interest in high-wage college majors such as engineering, computer science, and nursing.
The number of degrees conferred in fields of study where the median early-career salary exceeds $60,000 grew by 60 percent between 2010 and 2023. This accounted for almost all the rise in bachelor’s degree attainment during that time period. Combined, college majors paying lower starting salaries saw just an eight percent increase in degree conferrals over the same time frame.