SALARY LEVELS: Math Majors Making Money? Author(s): JAMES DANIEL Source: Math Horizons, Vol. 1, No.

1 (Winter 1993), p. 16 Published by: Mathematical Association of America Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/25677949 . Accessed: 23/08/2013 08:00
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DANIEL JAMES

Math Making
LEVELS SALARY
Math

Majors Money?
sciences have risen 15-20%. Where are these jobs for math ma jors? Most are in education, actuarial work, and consulting. But the Place ment Council report also shows them in such areas as accounting,
computing, insurance, ment, merchandising, and others. aerospace,

majors making money? Yep. At least according to the salary survey published by the College Placement Council with data through July 1993. Students graduating with un

Bachelor's Curriculum Engineering

degree area Salary $32,800 $30,900 $27,800 Science $27,600

dergraduate math degrees and no ex perience thisyear averaged starting sala it climbs to ries of about $26,100?and if in the throw students $27,600 you
actuarial science

banking,
finance, govern

communication,

with

Computer Science Accounting MATH & Actuarial Business Science

OK, so they're not getting rich. You probably figure that lots of other areas do much better. Like those with busi ness degrees, say. Wrong. Starting sala ries for business majors averaged about $25,600; accounting students, however,

degrees.

These are tight times economically, and especially tight times for new gradu ates seeking entry-level jobs almost re field. gardless of their undergraduate But math majors that find jobs can

MATH$26,100
$25,600 $25,300 $22,400

other than Math 8c Social Science Humanities

averaged $27,800. As expected, engineering majors and and $30,900 respectively. ages?$32,800 Sciences other thanmath together with
humanities and social sciences lag be computer science majors lead the aver

expect to get better starting salaries than can many of their fellow students, salaries that are around the average for
all new

Don't major inmath in order to get rich. Do it for its intellectual appeal,
challenge, usefulness, and beauty?in

graduates.

Master's
Curriculum

hind.

degree
area Salary

The same Placement Council report shows that getting a Master's degree can raise your starting salary to $33,800
on

short, because you like it. And then be thankful that you can earn a decent living from a subject you like.

Engineering Computer Science Business Science other than Math

MATH $33,800
$32,600 $30,500 $30,200

$39,900 $37,900 $36,100

but math
It's

average.

The

others

increase

too,

still ranks well.

to note that math's

relative ranking hasn' tchanged much? the 1987 order for Bachelor's degrees
was

interesting

Accounting Humanities

& Social Science

however, while
computer

thenmath, with the others trailing. The starting salaries for math majors have risen only about 7% in that period, those for engineering,
business, and other science,

engineering,

computer

science,

and

at the University of Texas-Austin. Committee chair of the MAA's tions.

JAMES DANIEL isprofessor ofmathematics

He also on Publica

is

16

Winter1993 MathHorizons

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