Top 10 College Majors for the Future to Put You in High Demand

If you want to future-proof your education, here are 10 of the best college majors you can choose to prepare yourself for tomorrow’s workforce.

1) COMPUTER SCIENCE

Computers have taken over, and they’re not going to be replaced anytime soon. That’s good news for students interested in computer-related degrees since 3,200 related jobs are projected to open annually until 2030!

A professional with a degree in computer science and an impressive understanding of computer systems and software programming can work in various roles, including application development, data science, and network systems administration. The best part? These are all high-paying fields!

2) INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

With more and more businesses going digital, there’s a growing demand for IT professionals (over 22,000 jobs each year, to be exact). Unlike computer science, an IT degree focuses on supporting business processes through technology — but both fields lead to a bright future.

Your workday could span from troubleshooting computer problems and safeguarding information to creating databases and communication networks. What’s even better is that if you become a computer support specialist, an IT project manager, or a computer systems administrator, your career path could be just as promising as your expected salary.

3) ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING

If you want to change the world through innovation, become an electrical engineer. You’ll be highly respected and highly paid in this field as you create technologies that will improve people’s day-to-day lives.

Learning the ins and outs of computers and digital systems, communication systems, electronics, and energy conversion opens up a promising career in researching, designing, developing, and manufacturing new technologies.

4) FINANCE

With a knack for numbers and well-honed problem solving skills, finance majors are valued assets in any company. This career commonly involves working with businesses to improve profits and streamline operations through financial planning, investing, and budgeting.

Four years of studying can help you become a financial analyst, an insurance manager, an investment banker, a financial consultant, a broker, or a financial officer. You can also set yourself apart and score better jobs by increasing your expertise through further certifications.

5) ECONOMICS

An economics degree prepares you to understand how money, industries, and trade affect the way the world works — an extremely useful job that will be critical in decades to come. You’ll gain necessary insights into how the economy impacts families, businesses, and governments worldwide.

When you graduate, you’ll be ready to start a career as a financial risk analyst, an economic researcher or consultant, a data analyst, or an actuary. These are all big jobs with big paydays!

6) PETROLEUM ENGINEERING

Not many people are familiar with petroleum engineering, but it’s among the highest-paid engineering disciplines out there, with a whopping average salary of more than $137,000 in 2020! This job involves investigating different ways to extract gas and oil from the ground.

A career in petroleum engineering can take you all over the world. You can work for government agencies or companies of all sizes as a drilling, production, or reservoir engineer.

Although the industry is changing due to the shift to renewable energy sources, there’s no need to hit the panic button just yet! Oil and gas workers have expertise that can be carried over to new industries, such as quality control management, process design and engineering, efficiency improvement, and even production planning and scheduling.

7) CYBERSECURITY

Individuals and businesses are now storing an increasing volume of essential documents and information in hard drives and cloud computing systems that need to be protected from hackers.

Did you know that cyber-crime increased by 600 percent in the past two years? This means that if you choose to major in cybersecurity, your skills will always be in demand.

Governments or companies can hire you as a systems or security administrator, a network engineer, a cybersecurity analyst, an IT auditor, a cybersecurity engineer, or a chief information security officer.

8) NURSING

There’s nothing like a global pandemic to remind us that healthcare professionals are vital to society. The US has seen a shortfall of nurses in the last decade, projecting that 1.2 million nurses are needed by 2030 to meet the growing demand.

With 192,500 openings available each year, pursuing an advanced nursing degree will help you move into more specialized oncology or critical care roles.

If that’s not for you, there’s a lot more that you can achieve during your career with a nursing major behind you, such as a job in nursing administration or nursing research. One thing’s for sure — people will always need nurses.

9) INDUSTRIAL DISTRIBUTION

Have you ever wondered how East Coast products make it all away to the other side of the country? Or how businesses in your hometown get textiles or machinery from China? There’s a whole field of industrial distribution experts who make it happen.

In this career, you analyze and improve supply chain processes, internal operations, and goods distribution. You can also choose between working in the public or private sector as a wholesale or retail buyer, distribution manager, purchasing agent, logistician, or regional or international sales manager.

All in all, a career in logistics could be a good move as the industry is valued to reach $12,975.64 billion by 2027 — a bright future that you could be a part of!

10) PHARMACOLOGY

If you’re into science and medicine, pursuing pharmacology might be the perfect college major for you and a strategic career move. In this field, you will play a part in creating new safe and effective medications.

Pursuing a career in pharmacology can land you a great job in high demand because of current job market trends and a lack of skilled graduates. For example, you can work as a biomedical scientist, a clinical researcher in biochemistry or immunology, a medicinal chemist, or even a toxicologist — all fields that are on the lookout for new talent for the future.