Engineering is the top degree

Universities and colleges throughout the country offer an astronomical array of majors for students to study, and while what's offered varies from school to school, there's one commonality that cannot be debated – engineering majors will make the most money.

According to a study by Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce, petroleum engineers have the highest median income at $120,000; counseling psychology majors can expect the lowest median income at $29,000.

"I do not think anyone would go through these engineering courses without expecting a large salary at the end of the road," said Thomas Quinn, a mechanical engineering major and engineer-in-training at Siemens. "If they can handle all of the math and physics courses, I would recommend the major, but I would not recommend it to everyone."

Dr. Johannes Vrana, Senior NDE for Siemens, thinks it is a great idea to have students studying engineering in college.

"It gives a great background for a great variety of interesting jobs in the industry," Vrana said. "However, to study engineering, somebody should have quite some interest in it and have a good background in mathematics."

In the fall 2010 semester, UCF had an enrollment of 56,337 students. The College of Engineering and Computer Science had a total of 5,674 undergraduate students enrolled, making it the fourth-highest enrolled college in the school, according to the UCF Office of Institutional Research.

Freshman Blaire Scheller said she had some difficulties choosing a major when the time came, and according to the Office of Institutional Research, she had 91 bachelor's degree programs to pick from.

"I was moderately clueless when applying to UCF," Scheller said. "However, I think that in the back of my head, I wanted to declare engineering all along."

Scheller said most of her friends were already studying engineering or were planning on it, so she had some exposure and some general knowledge of what the courses would be like.

"Engineering is not known for being easy," Scheller said. "So even if at some point you are seeking a job that does not involve engineering, having that degree shows you are a competent, hard-working individual."

Mechanical engineering major Will Richards shared similar sentiments.

"Engineering is no joke; you have to take it seriously," Richards said. "Every class I take I feel like I am learning something new that I have not learned before."

The difficulty of engineering classes could potentially be attributed to why the major didn't rank in the Office of Institutional Research's list of the top 15 bachelor degrees conferred as of July 2011.

According to the list, a Bachelor of Science in psychology ranked No. 1, while a Bachelor of Arts in English ranked No. 15.

According to the 2011-2012 PayScale College Salary Report, the top six undergraduate college degrees by salary were in the field of engineering. Out of the 120 degrees listed, 13 of them were in the field of engineering with the lowest starting median salary of $51,700 belonging to environmental engineers. Out of the 13 engineering degrees listed, UCF offers seven of them, according to UCF's website.

Quinn knows that earning one of those engineering degrees is proof to employers of a strong work ethic and an array of abilities.

"You cannot just skate through engineering," Quinn said. "Engineers make some of the largest most powerful things on the planet from buildings to bombs. Do you want someone who has a hard time in math building the hotel you are sleeping in?"