Petroleum Engineering is the highest paid major with average starting salary of $60,879 in 2010, according to the National Association of College and Employers (NACE), followed by Chemical Engineering ($65,142) and Mining & Mineral Engineering (including Geological) ($64,552).

A bachelor's degree in chemical engineering will lead to a range of career opportunities in petrochemicals, natural gas processing, biotechnology, refining, fuels and energy, pollution control and environmental protection, plastics and composite materials, and related industries. According to the US News & World Report 2009 Best Colleges Specialty Rankings, the top 5 undergraduate chemical engineering programs are: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (1st), UC Berkeley (2nd), University of Wisconsin--Madison (3rd), University of Minnesota--Twin Cities (4th), and Stanford University (5th).

A bachelor's degree in petroleum engineering will lead to a very diverse range of career opportunities. You can work as a drilling engineer, production engineer, reservoir engineer, or you can also find job opportunities in such fields as teaching, consulting, and government service. For more information please see: The Highest Paying Degree - Petroleum Engineering.

Top 5 Highest-Paid Bachelor's Degrees:
1. Petroleum Engineering
2. Chemical Engineering
3. Mining & Mineral Engineering (incl. Geological)
4. Computer Science
5. Computer Engineering
Source: NACE (Winter 2010 Salary Survey)

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Kelvin Wong Loke Yuen is a top academician with extensive years of teaching experience. He holds an MBA and a Postgraduate Diploma from Heriot-Watt (UK's World-Class University) and a BCom degree from Adelaide (Australia's Group of Eight University), as well as many other internationally recognized certifications. Check out his profile on: LinkedIn

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