[News Item from the APA Home Office]

Philosophy Majors and Jobs

August 2009

Every year around graduation time we hear the reports of average starting salary of college graduates by major.  This data is often used to discourage people from majoring in disciplines like philosophy.  Now, however, PayScale.com has released data showing average mid-career salaries of college graduates by major.  This data makes the philosophy major look like a much more prudential choice.  PayScale.com’s current data on “Best Undergrad College Degrees By Salary (www.payscale.com/2008-best-colleges/degrees.asp) lists starting median salary and mid-career (15.5 years after graduation) median salary for 50 different university majors.  Of the fifty, the philosophy major ranks sixteenth in mid-career median salary.  Seven of the majors ranking above philosophy are various engineering fields.

Of particular interest is the comparison with Business Management. The starting median salary for Business Management majors is $43,000, while the starting median salary for Philosophy majors is $39,900.  By mid-career, however, the median salary for Business Management majors has risen to $72,100, while the median salary for Philosophy majors has jumped to $81,200.

[An aside from a local professor of philosophy: Money is surely the wrong reason to go into a field like philosophy — if you don’t love this stuff, then stay away!  But it’s good to see that money can follow your passion.  This 2008 study shows that philosophy is higher paying than all other majors in the Humanities or Social Sciences.  To make more, you need to pursue such fields as engineering, economics, or physics.]