With the escalating cost of education and deteriorating job prospects, getting started in a great career that you think will show you the money seems bleak and almost impossible. Looking at the value prospects of going to choice schools has become more crucial than ever. Also, there’s the dilemma of whether to just stick to a bachelor’s degree or go further and earn Master’s degree to draw the big bucks. If you’re out to get a degree that will yield top dollar, then crunch some numbers. The trend seems to show that engineers still hold the top spot for degrees that fetch larger pay checks after graduation. Check the list below for the top 5 schools that turn out high paying employees; not surprisingly, the number one spot is occupied by a school that specializes in engineering.

1. Harvey Mudd College. When it comes to graduate earnings, this school is the cream of the crop. This is a specialized institution for engineering and there is verifiable proof in today’s job market that engineering majors from this school do make good money. Graduates from this school are getting a salary scale between $68,900 and $126,000. Among the high paying alumni of this school include Senior Software Engineers with a salary range of $93,662 – $119,881 and Aerospace Engineers with a pay scale between $58,958 and $91,563.

2. Princeton University. Princeton is an Ivy League school with its graduates known to receive a starting salary of $58,900 and get mid-career salary as high as $123,000. Some of its best graduates include those who have pursued careers as Professors in Post Secondary Education with a salary range from $82,504 to $170,000, while Assistant Professors in Post secondary Education earn salaries between $51,032 – $67,675; its Software Engineering graduates are reported to make between $76,302 – $97,211.

3. Dartmouth College. This prestigious school held second place in this category for two consecutive years, but was knocked down a notch by Princeton; most of its graduates receive pay between $54,100 and $123,000. A huge portion of its graduates take the financial services road after college, and its turnout of high paying employees consist of Financial Analysts who enjoy pay scales between $40,695 – $88,437, while graduates who work as Management Consultants make $101,736 at mid-career from a starting salary of $56,993.

4. Harvard University. This is another Ivy League University with the highest paid mid-career graduates with a starting salary of $57,300 and goes up to around $121,000. Harvard turns out high paying Lawyers ($75,000 – $146,892); Professors in Post Secondary Education ($90,154 – $134,562) and Software Engineers ($97,421 – $128,695).

5. California Institute of Technology (Caltech). Rounding up the fifth place, Caltech is another school that specializes in engineering. A good number of its graduates have start up salary of $69,900 and receive $120,000 by mid-career. Graduates who are now among the best paid employees include Research Scientists with a salary scale of $67,133 – $113,141; Software Engineers earning between $85,000 and $109,020; and Professors in Post Secondary Education receiving salaries that range from $74,268 to $117,916.

Of course, it all looks very impressive (mind-blowing even); but you must remember that there are other criteria besides the kind of school you attend. Sure, the school matters to some extent, but when all is said and done, it’s really all up to you, the job seeker/employee how you carve your career. No matter which school you attend, your attitude, drive, motivation, discipline and other invaluable traits weigh more as determining factors for success or failure.

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This entry was posted on Friday, September 3rd, 2010 at 9:36 am and is filed under Applying for a Job, Career Changes, Free Advice, Job Search Tips. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.