The Hamilton Project has just compiled a list of the College Majors With The Highest and Lowest Lifetime Earnings...

Unfortunately, it would seem that being an artist or a musician ranks as one of the worst possible careers when it comes to overall lifetime earnings. However, musicians did beat out other low wage categories such as; Social work, Early childhood education, and just being a high-school graduate!

The report — titled "Major Decisions: What Graduates Earn Over Their Lifetimes" — tracks data from the Census Bureau to determine which college majors yield the largest financial rewards over a graduate's lifetime.

Unsurprisingly, engineering degrees topped the list, while education, music, and arts majors were found closer to the bottom.


However, as The Washington Post notes, "these rankings exclude people with graduate degrees, which leaves out doctors, lawyers, and professors," which explains the potentially low ranking of majors that traditionally go on to law school or medical school.

Overall though, the report reaffirms the importance and value of a college degree — according to the findings, a typical bachelor's degree graduate will earn $1.19 million over their lifetime, around twice what the typical high school graduate earns.

Here's The Hamilton Project's chart of median lifetime earnings by college major, in millions of dollars (click to enlarge):