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Top 1% incls maybe a trivial ~$350K/yr: fairly middle-class in yuppie areas of SF/PaloAlto or Manhattan
Suspect not many of either top 0.1% or top 1% necessarily ascribe their formal education to their success
Fail Stats 101 to ascribe associations of elite colleges or quant majors as cause-effect vs income/net worth
Know many >$1MM/yr, <25yo types from past 15+yrs who would argue their career/financial success is despite, not b/c of, their formal miseducation at some overpriced Luddite elite college (incl CS or finance majors w/high GPAs)
There is correlation between certain majors and income and unemployment rates. I am sure plenty of social scientists have found causation between years of education and income. Many high-paying occupations do require formal education in the respective field. You aren't going to become a doctor or lawyer without formal education. Business is one of the very few high-paying fields that does not absolutely require post-secondary education. However, I do agree that many people overestimate the potential of STEM majors over other majors and I have seen some elitism on this forum when it comes to discussing the prestige of colleges.
Thomas Edison State College is an unranked, open enrollment, distance learning school. It had the highest CPA passage rate in the state of New Jersey in 2010 beating out schools like the tier 1 Rutgers. The success of TESC students is probably more attributable to the students themselves who tend to be adult learners and very self-disciplined.
Before anyone argues that political science is high up on the list because many political science majors go onto law school, I'd like to point out a few facts. The Georgetown study found that those with graduate degrees in political science earn an average of $90k a year. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, political scientists (those working in the field) have a median income of over $104k. Many people study criminal justice as a prerequisite to law school and that major is not on the top 1% list. Criminal justice and pre-law majors actually score the lowest on the LSAT. Political science majors score lower than philosophy, physics, mathematics, and economics majors on the LSAT.
Did Political Science/Government beat out Accounting, Chemical Engineering, Chemistry, Finance, and Physics? Say it isn't so!
Yea and they go to some of the top institutions in the country, networking and rubbing elbows with other politically connected people.
You think John Smith going to the State College is going to get the same opportunities post graduation the elite to? IMO, the playing field is much more leveled when applying for jobs with a regulated degree opposed to a non regulated one.
That's no different from law and the various business specialties. If you're talking about political consulting, lobbying, and government advising, then having connections is important. If you're talking about intelligence, then foreign language skills, experience, and a security clearance are important. The lowest 10% of political science earnings are in the $47k range, which is not much different from several engineering specialties.
That's no different from law and the various business specialties. If you're talking about political consulting, lobbying, and government advising, then having connections is important. If you're talking about intelligence, then foreign language skills, experience, and a security clearance are important. The lowest 10% of political science earnings are in the $47k range, which is not much different from several engineering specialties.
I think you should clarify you mean lowest 10% actually working in that field, not the lowest 10% earnings of those with a political science degree. That should approximate the average earnings of a waiter or an assistant manager at the Gap.
Meh, I think the most obvious predictor is the name of the school itself. I'm sure that the vast majority of the top 1% are graduates or in some form associated with the top ranked schools in the nation regardless of major.
Another thing to think about....a lot of top schools don't offer certain majors. I checked and Harvard, Yale, and Stanford do not offer accounting, for example, probably for reasons mentioned in one of the other threads here [it is too "vocational" in nature.]
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Say it isn't so! 
