There is a lot of debate about whether college is worth the investment, and many discount the value of a liberal arts degree at any price. While professional or pre-professional degrees, such as business or pre-law, often lead to high starting salaries, a January 2014 analysis of census data reports that “at peak earnings ages (56-60 years) workers who majored as undergraduates in the humanities or social sciences earn annually on average about $2,000 more than those who majored as undergraduates in professional or pre-professional fields.”

Xconomy