????選擇大學(xué)專業(yè)時(shí)，每個(gè)人都有自己的理由，當(dāng)然有一些理由與金錢關(guān)系不大，甚至沒有關(guān)系。喬治城大學(xué)教育與勞動(dòng)力研究中心的一項(xiàng)最新研究顯示，即便如此，鑒于參加工作時(shí)背負(fù)沉重債務(wù)的學(xué)生人數(shù)已創(chuàng)下歷史記錄，近80%的大學(xué)生在選擇專業(yè)時(shí)，至少會(huì)在一定程度上考慮相關(guān)職業(yè)的收入前景。

????所以，能夠獲得較高收入的商業(yè)類和STEM專業(yè)（即科學(xué)、技術(shù)、工程與數(shù)學(xué)）成為熱門也就不足為奇。46%的新畢業(yè)生就讀于這兩類專業(yè)。這兩個(gè)領(lǐng)域的入門級(jí)平均年薪至少達(dá)到37,000美元，整個(gè)職業(yè)生涯的平均年薪可達(dá)到65,000美元，職業(yè)巔峰階段的平均收入可達(dá)到100,000美元甚至更高。

????學(xué)士學(xué)位能夠帶來優(yōu)勢(shì)。大學(xué)畢業(yè)生整個(gè)職業(yè)生涯的平均收入，比僅有高中學(xué)歷的人要多出100萬美元。研究中心主任及該項(xiàng)研究的主要負(fù)責(zé)人安東尼?P?卡內(nèi)瓦萊表示：“但并非所有專業(yè)都是平等的。你的專業(yè)對(duì)于未來的就業(yè)能力和發(fā)展前景，有著巨大的影響。”

????該份報(bào)告共分析了137個(gè)專業(yè)的職業(yè)生涯總收入。在薪酬最高的10大本科專業(yè)中，僅有一個(gè)專業(yè)——藥劑學(xué)與制藥學(xué)（平均收入113,000美元）——不屬于工程類。其他9個(gè)專業(yè)均為工程類：石油（136,000美元）、冶金（98,000美元）；采礦與礦物（96,000美元）；化工（96,000美元）；電力（93,000美元）；航空航天（90,000美元）、機(jī)械（87,000美元）；計(jì)算機(jī)（87,000美元）和地質(zhì)或地球物理（87,000美元）。

????收入最低的領(lǐng)域?yàn)樗囆g(shù)、教育和社區(qū)服務(wù)（即便獲得研究生學(xué)位）。早期幼兒教育在職業(yè)中期的平均收入為39,000美元，排在最末。為了說明這一差距，研究人員計(jì)算得出一名石油工程師職業(yè)生涯中的收入，要比一名幼師多出340萬美元。

????但在決定如何度過一生時(shí)，金錢顯然不是一切。除了薪酬，喬治城大學(xué)還研究了137個(gè)專業(yè)領(lǐng)域的受歡迎程度，并發(fā)現(xiàn)了一些有趣的斷裂現(xiàn)象。例如，基礎(chǔ)教育的平均收入僅有相對(duì)一般的43,000美元，但其受歡迎程度卻排在前十位。心理學(xué)專業(yè)的受歡迎程度排在第5位，但其收入排名卻較低（137個(gè)專業(yè)中排名第112位）。人氣競(jìng)賽中墊底的專業(yè)是地質(zhì)與地球物理工程和冶金工程，雖然這兩個(gè)專業(yè)的職業(yè)生涯收入分別排在第10位和第3位。

????想學(xué)習(xí)戲劇藝術(shù)或英國(guó)文學(xué)？這兩個(gè)人文科學(xué)專業(yè)的本科學(xué)歷，很難給你帶來六位數(shù)的收入。但卡內(nèi)瓦萊表示，仔細(xì)研究這些數(shù)字可以為你的選擇提供支持。但他表示，雖然大學(xué)專業(yè)很重要，但它并不能“決定命運(yùn)”。有研究顯示“人文專業(yè)前25%的研究生，其收入超過了某些工程類專業(yè)后25%的學(xué)生。”（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：劉進(jìn)龍/汪皓

????審校：任文科

????People pick a college major for all kinds of reasons, of course, some of which have little or nothing to do with money. Even so, and especially now that record numbers of graduates enter the workforce carrying a heavy load of debt, about 80% of college students choose a major based at least in part on how well the resulting career will pay, says a newstudy from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce.

????No wonder, then, that business and STEM majors, both of which lead to relatively high salaries, are the most common. Accounting for 46% of all new grads, the two fields pay, on average, at least $37,000 at the entry level and an average salary of $65,000 over the course of a career, often reaching a median of $100,000 or more during someone’s peak earning years.

????Any bachelor’s degree confers an edge. College graduates earn, on average, $1 million more over their lifetimes than people with only a high school diploma. But “all degrees are not created equal,” notes Anthony P. Carnevale, director of the Center and lead author of the study. “Your major has a large effect on your ability to get a job and work your way up.”

????In all, the report analyzed lifetime earnings for 137 majors. Of the 10 undergraduate degrees that pay the most, only one — pharmacy and pharmaceutical science (median salary: $113,000) — is not in engineering. The rest are in nine engineering fields: petroleum ($136,000); metallurgical ($98,000); mining and mineral ($96,000); chemical ($96,000); electrical ($93,000); aerospace ($90,000); mechanical ($87,000); computer ($87,000); and geological or geophysical ($87,000).

????The worst-paying fields are in the arts, education, and community service (even with a graduate degree). Early-childhood education, at an average salary of $39,000 in mid-career, pays the least. To illustrate the difference, the researchers calculated that a petroleum engineer is likely to earn $3.4 million more, over the course of his or her working life, than a kindergarten teacher.

????But, when it comes to deciding how to spend a lifetime, money clearly isn’t everything. Besides how well they pay, the Georgetown study also looked at the popularity of all 137 fields, and found some interesting disconnects. Elementary education, for instance, makes the Top 10 in popularity, despite topping out at a relatively modest $43,000 in median pay. Psychology rates fifth in popularity despite its low rank in salary (No. 112 out of 137). Dead last in the popularity contest: geological and geophysical engineering and metallurgical engineering, despite ranking No. 10 and No. 3 in lifetime earnings.

????Want to major in theater arts or English literature? The odds of ever making six figures with a bachelor’s in the humanities may be against you, but Carnevale says a close reading of the numbers could support your choice anyway. Important as it is, a college major “isn’t destiny,” he observes, adding that the research shows that “the top 25% of humanities and liberal arts graduates earn more than the bottom 25%” of people who major in some kind of engineering.