With a challenging job market, mounting student loan debt, and warnings of further disruption from AI, more Gen Z college graduates are questioning whether the time and money spent earning a degree will pay off. But new data points to some major exceptions, where graduates of certain degrees are earning median incomes well above $200,000.
Mathematics graduates from Duke University are bringing home median annual earnings of $297,029 four years postgrad, according to data analyzed by higher education research firm HEA Group, cited by the New York Times.
That’s nearly five times the $64,500 median earnings of graduates across all institutions—and a striking figure for a field that can lead to careers in finance, technology, and other lucrative industries.
Carnegie Mellon University also had two programs among the highest earners. Computer science graduates reported median earnings of $268,121, while those who studied electrical, electronics, and communications engineering earned $250,168.
The results reflect strong employer demand for graduates with technical expertise, said Burcu Akinci, dean of Carnegie Mellon’s college of engineering.
“The salaries of our graduates reflect the rapid pace of technological change and the demand for those prepared to lead it,” Akinci told Fortune. “We educate systems thinkers who creatively solve complex engineering problems at the forefront of emerging technologies.”
Big paychecks mask a tougher reality for many recent graduates
In total, Carnegie Mellon had six programs whose graduates earned more than $150,000 annually—the most of any university on the list. The school also offers a different admissions proposition than some of its elite peers: Its acceptance rate for the class of 2029 was 11.1%, compared with rates below 5% at Duke and several Ivy League universities.
Still, the potential earnings come at a steep price. At many top universities, the annual cost now exceeds $100,000. Carnegie Mellon’s total annual cost of attendance for on-campus students is somewhat lower, at about $94,000, but still represents a substantial investment for students and their families.
And as eye-popping as the earnings figures are, they represent a relatively small slice of higher education. At Duke, for example, just 17 mathematics graduates made up the cohort behind the $297,029 median. Across roughly 20 programs where graduates earned more than $200,000, the data covers only about 2,000 students.
There is another caveat: The figures reflect an earlier era of the job market. The federal data tracks students who graduated during the 2017–18 and 2018–19 academic years, meaning it cannot fully capture the changes in hiring and demand that have unfolded since then, particularly as AI reshapes the technology industry.
Computer engineering graduates, for example, had a 7.8% unemployment rate in 2024, the second-highest among college majors, while computer science graduates had a 7.0% rate, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. The overall unemployment rate for recent college graduates was 4.2%. The figures underscore the uncertainty facing students entering fields that have historically offered lucrative career paths but are now grappling with a tougher entry-level job market.
Low-earning postsecondary education programs risk losing access to federal loans
The data analyzed by HEA Group is part of a broader federal effort to measure the return on investment of college programs and identify those that leave students with poor financial outcomes. Under the policy, programs that fail to meet federal earnings benchmarks—including the requirement that graduates earn more than comparable adults with only a high school diploma—risk losing access to federal student loans.
About 95% of students are enrolled in programs that are likely to pass the earnings test. Among those most at risk are short-term certificate programs, including cosmetology and other vocational training fields. Others are degree programs like music, fine and studio arts, and certain health-related fields.
Steve Taylor, policy director at Stand Together Trust, an economic mobility nonprofit and member of Virginia’s State Council of Higher Education, previously told Fortune that encouraging students to only consider college has not played out well.
“College can have civic, personal, and cultural value beyond wages,” he said earlier this year. “But when students are taking on federal debt, it’s fair to ask whether a program gives them a reasonable path to repay what they borrowed.”