Actuarial science, the formal term for the study of insurance, was ranked the most valuable college major, according to a Bankrate.com report released on Monday. Actuarial science majors earn an average annual salary of $108,658 and have a better-than-average unemployment rate at 2.3 percent. And at a time when student debt is at a record high, these graduates are less likely to incur the added expense of additional schooling and delayed earning potential. Less than 1 in 4 graduates pursue advanced degrees.
"The actuarial science profession is interesting because students don't need advanced degrees to gain livable wages, but instead are certified through a series of exams overseen by the industry's professional organizations," said Bankrate.com analyst Adrian Garcia in an interview. "Students typically pass one to two of these exams while in school and then go on and complete others while working, earning raises and bonuses as they pass."
The study ranked 162 majors with labor forces of at least 15,000 people based on average annual income, employment status and whether those graduates went on to pursue a higher degree within 12 months. Income accounted for 70 percent of the weighted ranking, unemployment for 20 percent and 10 percent was awarded to career paths that did not demand additional education. The data was derived from the U.S. Census Bureau's 2016 American Community Survey.
Source: Bloomberg News
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 12 2018, @01:06PM (7 children)
1. Acturial Science
2. Zoology
3. Nuclear Engineering
4. Health & Medical Preparatory Programs
5. Applied Mathematics
158. Visual & Performing Arts
159. Cosmetology & Culinary Arts
160. Clinical Psychology
161. Composition & Speech
162. Miscellaneous Fine Arts
Statisticians are overpaid and the reason the arts are presumed to be wealth generating pursuits is because only the wealthy can afford to be "artists". Didn't we already know this?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 12 2018, @02:01PM
Isn't a "fine arts" degree supposed to associated with lower income than dropping out of high school?
(Score: 2) by fritsd on Wednesday September 12 2018, @02:37PM (1 child)
I don't think so :-) [wikipedia.org] and I'm not even a statistician.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 12 2018, @03:17PM
This is why you may be underpaid ;) [wikipedia.org]
(Score: 1) by TechieRefugee on Wednesday September 12 2018, @03:01PM
Fine Arts should be the number one dream job, 'cuz if you think you'll get a job in it, you're dreaming!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 12 2018, @03:42PM
Acturial Science was #1 when I graduated from college 30 years ago with a math degree.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Osamabobama on Wednesday September 12 2018, @06:16PM (1 child)
Why would these two fields be lumped together? That's a good way to get hair in your food.
Appended to the end of comments you post. Max: 120 chars.
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 12 2018, @08:21PM
What do you think your mcburger is made out of?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 12 2018, @02:09PM (1 child)
Coding is the best job. Professional coders can earn up to $0 per year and work an average of 168 hours per week. Unemployment rates are as high as 100% for basement dwellers who write all the code for free used by billion dollar corporations.
Learn to code today. You have no idea the shitty life you will miss out on unless you learn to code.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 12 2018, @07:03PM
We need more female programmers! It's all the fault of the incels that women go into fields like actuarial science instead of programming! Burn the misogynerds alive!
(Score: 2) by SparkyGSX on Wednesday September 12 2018, @02:43PM (4 children)
Maybe they should include suicide rates and chronic depression rates in the ranking, and see where "actuarial science" ends on the list.
This doesn't say anything about work enjoyment, possibilities for intellectual growth (it selects against it, in a way), and many other factors that make a job worth the time you spend doing it. It only measures the easiest way to make lots of money doing a job you'll probably deeply hate doing.
If you do what you did, you'll get what you got
(Score: 4, Funny) by richtopia on Wednesday September 12 2018, @02:58PM
Today in obvious news: Undesirable jobs come with a pay incentive.
(Score: 2) by bobthecimmerian on Wednesday September 12 2018, @04:18PM (2 children)
I think an important thing to remember is that we should be working to live, not living to work. As long as being an actuary doesn't actively make you want to hang yourself, it's a fine choice. Put in your 20 or 25 years and then retire and spend 100% of your time on things you do care about.
Don't forget, tens of millions of people work jobs they hate just to pay the bills, and earn shit pay, and their only retirement is getting too old or sick to continue.
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday September 13 2018, @02:48AM (1 child)
Unless, of course, you want to do that.
(Score: 2) by bobthecimmerian on Friday September 14 2018, @02:14AM
If someone can find a job that makes them happy to go to work each day, that's genuinely awesome and I wish them well. But it's absurd to think most people can do that. Most of us can't, and we're only causing ourselves anxiety and disappointment seeking something that doesn't exist. The best we can do is find something we don't hate that pays the bills.
(Score: 2) by EvilSS on Wednesday September 12 2018, @03:13PM (7 children)
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 12 2018, @03:47PM (6 children)
Most powerball winners end up broke and unhappy.
https://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2016/01/why_do_70_percent_of_lottery_w.html [cleveland.com]
(Score: 2) by Arik on Wednesday September 12 2018, @04:05PM (5 children)
The lottery is a tax on people that don't understand math. Sure, occasionally someone throws away a dollar on a ticket and then never buys one again, but other often desperately poor people spend a portion of every paycheck on this like clockwork for years. Each one of them individually has a very low chance of winning, yet there will be a winner of course, and more than likely one of the regular players will get it.
Which means someone that self-evidently doesn't understand math or money.
So of course they're usually broke again in 5 years or less. Incredibly unsurprising.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 12 2018, @04:27PM (3 children)
Only to those who don't understand lottery buyers. They are not deciding to buy a statistically insignificant chance to win money. They are buying a dollop of hope to get themselves to the end of the week without killing themselves.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 12 2018, @05:59PM (1 child)
Hey, we need to hate on all things that aren't 100% rational! A pox upon all lottery players for being suckers! Yeah, get em'!
Sorry for the silly sarcasm, it is nice to see a comment with some humanity. This site is now home to trolls and ne'er-do-wells.
Hope? Comfort? Compassion? Art? Those are for pussies!!!! Get your red pill or GTFO!!! /s /barf
(Score: 1) by khallow on Thursday September 13 2018, @03:08AM
It wouldn't hurt, if you picked an example that wasn't stupid.
As noted, lottery tickets are at best a placebo. When you consider the trainwreck that happens when one's "hope, comfort, and compassion" actually is realized (remember 70% of lottery winners go bankrupt in five years?), it's silly to defend these notions.
I imagine you're just as charitable to other comments that don't fit your worldview so nicely.
(Score: 2) by Arik on Wednesday September 12 2018, @06:05PM
The poorest and most vulnerable among us are suckered into paying extra.
Hope is not something you can buy, it comes from within. Lottery tickets are at best expensive placebos.
If laughter is the best medicine, who are the best doctors?
(Score: 1, Funny) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 12 2018, @04:39PM
A guy kneels at the end of his bed every night before bed, clasps his hands together and yells into the ether; "Please, please God let me win the lottery". Weeks turn into months, years and decades. Finally one night his prayers are answered; "Come on, help me out and start buying a fucking ticket!"