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Highest Paying Social Sciences Majors

Top 50 Social Sciences college majors by estimated median 5-year earnings

# College Major Degrees Accept Earnings Earn % Earn z ROI Employ Debt-to-Earn Male White Asian Black Hispanic Intl SAT p25 SAT p50 SAT p75 Submit %
1 U. of Pennsylvania International Studies 45 6% $277,397 100 +10.66 100 94% — 44% 33% 27% 4% 9% 22% 1500 1530 1560 70%
2 Stanford Communication 22 4% $152,368 100 +8.45 100 92% — 41% 23% 27% 27% 5% 0% 1520 1550 1570 77%
3 U. of Pennsylvania Legal Studies & Business Ethics 10 6% $133,775 100 +4.53 99 — — 40% 40% 20% 10% 30% 0% 1500 1530 1560 70%
4 Northwestern Public Policy Analysis 35 7% $132,326 100 +9.37 99 100% — 20% 31% 20% 20% 11% 6% 1520 1540 1560 73%
5 Stanford Symbolic Systems 113 4% $132,283 98 +2.14 99 87% — 54% 21% 32% 9% 15% 13% 1520 1550 1570 77%
6 U. of California, Berkeley Cognitive Science 280 11% $132,104 93 +2.13 99 95% — 23% 18% 45% 1% 12% 12% — — — —
7 Yale Humanities 24 4% $130,072 100 +6.64 98 90% — 38% 54% 12% 12% 8% 4% 1480 1520 1560 92%
8 Yale Political Science 119 4% $126,727 100 +4.01 98 98% — 55% 46% 11% 10% 13% 11% 1480 1520 1560 92%
9 Carnegie Mellon International Relations and Politics 16 11% $121,536 99 +2.54 97 — — 25% 44% 19% 0% 19% 6% 1500 1530 1560 84%
10 Yale Global Affairs 76 4% $118,772 99 +2.40 96 — — 50% 28% 20% 4% 22% 20% 1480 1520 1560 92%
11 U. of Pennsylvania International Relations 36 6% $118,454 98 +2.38 97 100% — 36% 53% 8% 3% 22% 6% 1500 1530 1560 70%
12 Cornell Public Policy 42 9% $115,717 100 +3.20 95 90% — 21% 26% 31% 14% 7% 10% 1490 1520 1550 56%
13 Vanderbilt Social Sciences 283 4% $115,303 100 +5.30 95 95% — 53% 51% 18% 7% 8% 5% 1510 1540 1560 52%
14 Stanford International Relations 79 4% $115,196 98 +2.21 96 92% — 29% 29% 15% 6% 23% 10% 1520 1550 1570 77%
15 Stanford Public Policy 19 4% $115,110 100 +3.16 96 — — 47% 47% 21% 5% 5% 5% 1520 1550 1570 77%
16 Washington & Lee Political Science 32 14% $113,897 100 +3.07 94 97% — 50% 72% 0% 6% 9% 6% 1430 1480 1530 52%
17 U. of Notre Dame International Studies 21 9% $113,595 97 +2.13 94 — — 14% 67% 10% 5% 5% 0% 1460 1500 1540 67%
18 Duke Public Policy Studies 151 5% $113,355 100 +3.03 93 96% — 26% 54% 11% 13% 11% 1% 1510 1540 1570 75%
19 U. of Pennsylvania Cognitive Science 95 6% $113,252 89 +1.32 95 90% — 31% 26% 28% 9% 6% 23% 1500 1530 1560 70%
20 Princeton Politics 62 4% $113,188 100 +3.02 96 93% — 61% 48% 16% 10% 13% 5% 1490 1530 1560 80%
21 Harvard Psychology 101 4% $112,707 100 +5.64 96 89% — 33% 44% 8% 9% 22% 9% 1440 1500 1550 100%
22 Bowdoin Political Science 71 7% $112,000 99 +2.93 94 94% — 49% 46% 14% 4% 11% 10% 1470 1510 1540 52%
23 U. of Chicago Political Science 95 5% $111,811 99 +2.91 93 92% — 49% 37% 8% 14% 24% 8% 1500 1530 1560 82%
24 Bucknell Political Science 73 32% $111,440 99 +2.89 93 98% — 53% 81% 0% 1% 12% 0% 1170 1270 1360 86%
25 UCLA Cognitive Science 307 9% $111,284 85 +1.24 97 88% — 30% 21% 36% 4% 12% 13% — — — —
26 U. of Pennsylvania Communication and Media Studies 67 6% $110,837 100 +4.57 94 98% 3.6% 21% 46% 13% 13% 10% 3% 1500 1530 1560 70%
27 Vanderbilt Political Science 49 4% $110,191 99 +2.80 93 98% — 49% 41% 22% 12% 12% 4% 1510 1540 1560 52%
28 U. of Chicago Public Policy Studies 66 5% $109,486 99 +2.74 92 94% — 27% 38% 9% 18% 29% 2% 1500 1530 1560 82%
29 U. of Virginia Public Policy 120 13% $109,472 99 +2.74 94 95% — 35% 67% 7% 8% 7% 2% 1410 1460 1510 60%
30 U. of Notre Dame Political Science 127 9% $109,276 98 +2.73 92 99% — 46% 58% 2% 8% 22% 3% 1460 1500 1540 67%
31 Dartmouth Government 126 6% $109,210 98 +2.72 93 98% — 59% 57% 10% 7% 11% 6% 1440 1500 1550 100%
32 Northwestern Social Policy 61 7% $108,909 100 +6.59 92 95% 2.8% 49% 46% 7% 21% 13% 7% 1520 1540 1560 73%
33 MIT Computation and Cognition (Course 6-9) 55 5% $108,543 78 +1.12 94 — — 33% 25% 31% 18% 11% 5% 1520 1550 1570 100%
34 Northwestern Human Development and Social Policy 21 7% $107,905 100 +6.48 92 — — 10% 14% 14% 5% 38% 10% 1520 1540 1560 73%
35 Georgia Tech Literature, Media, and Communication 64 13% $107,618 100 +4.27 97 98% — 44% 39% 41% 9% 3% 3% 1370 1460 1530 100%
36 Rice Social Policy Analysis 22 8% $107,244 100 +6.40 91 — — 32% 27% 27% 9% 32% 0% 1510 1540 1560 83%
37 Williams Political Science 26 9% $106,543 97 +2.53 91 95% — 54% 54% 12% 0% 15% 0% 1490 1520 1550 61%
38 Washington University in St Louis Political Science 79 12% $106,451 97 +2.52 90 91% — 49% 58% 8% 9% 15% 4% 1500 1530 1550 61%
39 U. of Notre Dame Sociology 28 9% $106,112 99 +4.46 90 100% — 25% 46% 4% 0% 29% 11% 1460 1500 1540 67%
40 Johns Hopkins Political Science 23 6% $105,047 96 +2.42 91 96% — 61% 35% 13% 4% 43% 4% 1530 1550 1560 77%
41 Lehigh Political Science 39 29% $105,029 96 +2.42 90 94% — 41% 64% 3% 10% 10% 0% 1380 1430 1480 43%
42 Cornell Government 123 9% $104,812 96 +2.40 90 97% — 40% 44% 15% 9% 15% 7% 1490 1520 1550 56%
43 Colby Political Science 50 8% $104,167 96 +2.35 89 100% — 60% 64% 10% 10% 8% 2% 1460 1510 1550 52%
44 Johns Hopkins International Studies 49 6% $102,593 97 +1.56 90 97% — 39% 39% 16% 4% 10% 20% 1530 1550 1560 77%
45 Princeton Public Policy 121 4% $102,139 96 +2.20 91 98% — 42% 36% 17% 8% 15% 12% 1490 1530 1560 80%
46 Middlebury Political Science 46 13% $101,098 95 +2.13 88 90% — 52% 61% 7% 9% 17% 4% 1460 1500 1530 49%
47 Duke Political Science 81 5% $100,139 95 +2.06 86 92% — 60% 51% 9% 6% 20% 5% 1510 1540 1570 75%
48 Yale Sociology 16 4% $99,852 99 +3.90 87 — — 12% 25% 38% 12% 25% 0% 1480 1520 1560 92%
49 Wake Forest Political Science 110 18% $99,699 95 +2.02 86 94% — 45% 66% 5% 5% 15% 4% 1420 1460 1490 46%
50 U. of Pennsylvania Political Science 98 6% $99,497 95 +2.01 88 96% — 51% 35% 11% 16% 19% 11% 1500 1530 1560 70%