What are the Fastest Growing and Highest Paying Graduate Degrees?

Creating more career opportunities and earning a higher salary are arguably the top two reasons most people pursue a graduate degree. These parameters are key factors in one’s decision about what type of degree they want to pursue. While this information may not prompt you to change careers entirely, it may help you choose which graduate degree to pursue if you have some options or flexibility within your current occupation.

According to the Bureau of Labor and Statistics (BLS), jobs that require a master’s degree are projected to have over 500,000 annual average job openings from 2022-2032. High demand professions include nurse practitioners followed by lawyers and postsecondary health specialties teachers.

While the old adage that there are more law students than lawyers may still be true, the occupation of lawyer is predicted to have the most graduate level job openings through the year 2032. The 2023 median salary for lawyers is $145,760 per year.

Education and health occupations are predicted to have the most job growth potential over the next decade. Many of these openings come as a considerable number of people leave these fields in part due to the recent pandemic, creating an unusual number of vacancies for newcomers and recent graduates.

Amongst all occupations and education levels, nurse practitioner is the fastest growing profession that requires a graduate degree (master’s), with an average of 29,200 jobs available each year until the year 2032. The BLS predicts a growth rate of 38% between 2022–2032, with a current median salary of $129,480 per year.*

Along with the increased demand for graduate level health care workers is an increased demand in postsecondary health care teachers, or college professors as they are more commonly called. This occupation requires a Ph.D. or medical doctoral degree and is on track to add 118,800 more jobs through the year 2032. The 2023 median salary for postsecondary teachers is $84,380 per year.

Education administrators in elementary and secondary schools are set to see an estimated 20,200 jobs available on average, each year, until 2032 with a median salary for administrators was $103,460 by 2032.

If salary is a primary driver for choosing a degree, there are numerous options in the health care field. The highest paying jobs are in the medical field and require a doctoral degree. Cardiologists are the highest paid occupation with a mean annual wage of $421,330, followed by Orthopedic surgeons, who typically make $371,410 per year.

Within those health care fields requiring a master’s degree, a nurse anesthetist ranks as the occupation with the highest salary with a median annual income of $129,480.

There are some non-medical occupations in this category as well, in case you’re thinking that your bachelor’s in econ may not transfer well into the health science field. The highest paying occupations with a master’s degree include:

• political scientist
• computer and information research scientists
• industrial-organizational psychologists
• economists

While the business field and its multitudes of specialties accounts for a large number of the workforce, getting a graduate degree in one of these fields is likely to pay off as well, although it’s not required to do well financially. However, it often helps in improving skills and advancement opportunities in your specific field.

Ensuring you selecting the right graduate degree, can significantly impact your career trajectory & earning potential.  By focusing on fields with strong growth prospects and high salaries, you can make an informed decision about advancing your career.

* U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Education level and projected openings, 2019–29, October 2020. https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2020/article/education-level-and-openings.htm#s5