The most and least lucrative college majors in North Carolina

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As more law and medical schools pull out of U.S. News & World Report's college rankings, prospective students are looking for new ways to assess programs.

Critics argue that the well-known college ranking system is based on metrics that neglect to consider many qualities that influence student success, such as postgraduate placement rates and course credit transfer applicability.

One key factor to consider is median earnings after graduation, which can significantly shape career outcomes.

On a national level, those who study nuclear engineering technologies or become technicians in that field have the highest median earnings three years after graduation at $107,804, followed by the fields of biomathematics, bioinformatics, and computational biology ($98,074), operations research ($96,452), marine transportation ($94,032), and petroleum engineering ($93,515).

EDsmart used data from the Department of Education for the 2020-21 school year to rank degree majors in North Carolina by median earnings three years after graduation for those with bachelor's degrees.

Some degree programs listed are only offered at one college in the state. When a major is offered at multiple colleges, the analysis lists the median earnings between them.

In North Carolina, applied mathematics tops the list of the most lucrative college majors, with graduates earning a median of $86,155 three years after completing their degree. Other high-earning fields include computer engineering ($81,527) and biomedical/medical engineering ($79,892).

On the flip side, some degrees lead to much lower earnings. Graduates in graphic communications have the lowest median income at $20,902, followed closely by dance ($20,952) and audiovisual communications ($23,798).

What do you think—should earnings be a key factor in choosing a major, or do other considerations matter more when it comes to education?