With the economy the way it is, many college students are wondering what majors offer the highest salaries. Unfortunately, what students major in is starting to depend on what offers the most money, rather than what they want to do.

    Fresno City College only offers AA (Associate in Arts) and AS (Associate in Science) degrees, which are two year degrees. Students at FCC are offered most classes that are necessary to transfer to a four year college and get a Bachelor in Arts, Bachelor in Science, Masters Degrees, or doctorate degrees. Some of the highest paying majors, such as accounting, business administration, and marketing, can be completed solely at FCC, without having to transfer to a four year university.

    Dylan Armitage, a freshman at FCC, has declared a biology major, which falls under the liberal arts category. “I picked Biology because my heart surgery piqued my interest in it, and I’ve always been a huge fan of the sciences.” Says Armitage, who plans to later go into medicine and become a surgeon.

    According to the State Center Community College Fact Book and database, 22% of students enrolled in FCC in the spring of 2007 planned on acquiring their AA/AS from FCC, and then trying for their BA/BS at a four year college, which was 6% less than the semester prior. 6% of enrolled students planned on only getting their AA/AS.

    The highest paying majors are also majors that are being hired for entry level positions, according to Collegegrad.com. A complete list of Top Entry Level Majors is available at: www.collegegrad.com/topemployers/majors.shtml,  Top 10 most profitable college majors and the average starting salary are shown in the text box below.

The NACE survey polled 83 private and state colleges nationwide. Some interesting facts:

•While computer science grads have had ever increasing salary offers, that streak ended this year with offers that were 2 percent less than a year ago.

•Accounting and economics experienced the greatest growth, rising 11 percent from a year ago.