In order to see patterns across clusters of instructional programs, we have organized academic disciplines into 15 “Major Group” classifications based on the taxonomy developed by the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce (see page 39). As with the previous presentations of the PSEO data, three time-points are included across the data visualizations below: 1, 5, and 10 years after graduation. Different years can be accessed using the “Year After Graduation” filter on the right. The first visualization below (see tab: Differences from Highest (Overall)) shows weighted average earnings aggregated across all institution types in the data (Doctoral, Master’s, and Bachelor’s institutions) in order to determine the overall trends, regardless of institutional level. The second tab (Differences from Highest (Carnegie)) shows earnings data by major group as well, but is broken out by Carnegie Classification. Use the “Carnegie Group” filter to the right to change which institution level is visualized. In both visualizations, the labels at the end of the bars have three components: major group weighted average earnings, and how far (in dollars) and by what percentage that major group is below the highest group. Each of these values is separated by a vertical bar (|), except for the highest earning major group in each year that serves as our reference group.

Ranking of Average Earnings by Major Group: All Carnegie Classifications 

• Across all public universities in the PSEO data, the Architecture and Engineering major group has the highest weighted average earnings at all three time-points in the data: $56,427 in Year 1, $73,875 in Year 5, and $92,851 in Year 10 after graduation.
• The Health major group starts out as the second-highest category in Year 1 with average earnings of $51,856, which is $4,571 or 8.1% below the highest major group. By Year 10, the Health major group is ranked 6th overall with earnings just over $70,000, which is a gap of over $22,000 or 24.4% from the highest major group.
• The Psychology and Social Work major group starts as the lowest average earnings group in Year 1 with $28,129, which is slightly less than half of the average earnings for Architecture and Engineering graduates. By Year 10, Psychology and Social Work bachelor’s graduates earn an average $53,777, which is more than $39,000 below the highest average earnings in the PSEO data.
• The  major group with the largest gain from Year 1 to Year 10 is Biology and Life Sciences. In Year 1, this major group earns just over $28,000, which is essentially half of the earnings of Architecture and Engineering majors. In Year 5, Biology and Life Sciences graduates’ average earnings increased to $48,887, which is 34% below the leading major group, but ranks sixth overall out of the 15 major groups. In Year 10, the Biology and Life Sciences group moves up one more spot to fifth overall, earning just over $70,400 per year. From Year 1 to Year 10, the average earnings for Biology and Life Sciences majors increases by 149% in the PSEO data.

• In both the Doctoral Institutions and Master’s Institutions categories, Architecture and Engineering bachelor’s graduates earn the highest salaries at 1, 5, and 10 years after graduation for the full cohort in the PSEO data.
• In the Bachelor’s Institutions group, the Health major group has the highest earnings in Year 1 and Year 5 after graduation, with the Architecture and Engineering major group moving into the highest earnings category in Year 10.
• One of the interesting findings throughout the comparison within Carnegie Classifications can be seen in the gaps between the major groups with the highest and lowest earnings.
  
  • For Doctoral Institutions, the gap in Year 1 is $29,054 ($56,920 vs. $27,866), which is a 51% difference. In Year 5, the percentage gap decreases to 45.6% from Year 1, but the actual average earnings gap increases to $34,077 ($74,495 vs. $40,418). In Year 10, the earnings gap goes up again, rising to $44,349 ($93,831 vs. $49,482), and the percentage gap also increase from 45.6% in Year 5 to 47.2% in Year 10.
  • For Master’s Institutions, there are smaller gaps in Year 1 than in Doctoral institutions. The earnings gap is $25,828 ($53,599 vs. $27,771), which is a 48.2% gap in in Year 1. Similarly to the Doctoral Institutions, the earnings gap for Master’s Institutions increases from Year 5, rising to $29,503 ($69,636 vs. $40,132), but the percentage decreases from 48.2% to 42.4% in Year 5. The earnings gap continues to increase into Year 10, with the lowest major group earning an average of $34,147 less than the highest earning group ($83,941 vs. $49,794), as the percentage gap decreases to 40.7% in Year 10.
  • The gaps exhibited in the Bachelor’s Institutions are greater in Year 1 and Year 5 when compared to Doctoral and Master’s Institutions.  In Year 1, there is a $39,206 earnings gap between highest and lowest ($65,736 vs. $26,530), which represents a 59.6% gap. Both the earnings and percentage gap decrease from Year 1 to Year 5, as a $34,423 ($74,045 vs. $39,622) earnings gap exists, which is a percentage gap of 46.5% in Year 5. The earnings gap continues to fall from Year 5 to Year 10, with the lowest major group earning $29,924 less than the highest group ($78,763 vs. $48,839), as the percentage gap also dropped further to 38% in Year 10.