52 College Majors With Starting Pay Below the US Average

52 college majors have starting salaries below the U.S. median wage of $63,360; pharmacy majors have the lowest starting salary at $40,000. By midcareer the median wage for workers with a bachelor’s degree is about $87,000—roughly $24,000 above the overall median—yet seven majors still report midcareer medians below $63,360. Over two-thirds of pharmacy majors pursue graduate degrees, lifting median pharmacy pay to about $85,000 by midcareer.

Analysis

The market is re-pricing credential pathways rather than just degrees, creating durable demand for post-bachelor upskilling and vocational conversion services. That shift concentrates spending into discrete pockets—graduate programs, certificate platforms, licensing prep—and reduces marginal ROI on certain undergrad programs, which in turn alters university enrollment mix and pricing power over a multi-year horizon.

Second-order winners will be providers that monetize recurring relationships (subscription learning platforms, graduate-program partnerships, and clinic/ambulatory real estate landlords), while losers are entities that rely on one-time undergrad tuition churn or entry-level wage arbitrage. Expect pressure on regional consumer spending where campus employment and entry-level graduate pay historically supported local retail and housing; a 1–3% persistent reallocation of enrollment can show up as mid-single-digit revenue drags for hospitality and local retail over 12–36 months.

Key catalysts to watch are federal student-finance rules, licensing board policy changes in regulated professions, and quarterly enrollment prints from public education companies; each can re-rate the positionings within weeks for some names and over 1–3 years for incumbents. Tail risks include a macro shock that forces a near-term spike in vocational enrollment (rapidly flipping sentiment) or a policy-driven tuition subsidy that restores undergraduate ROI, both of which would compress the valuation spreads we describe.

Key Decisions for Investors

• Long CHGG (Chegg) — 6–12 month horizon. Buy shares or a 1:2 call spread (buy Jan-2027 $8 calls / sell $14 calls). Rationale: captive subscription base and positioning in prep/upskilling should capture increased demand for modular credentials. Risk/reward: downside ~25% if user monetization stalls; upside ~40% if cohort growth and ARPU expand via new grad-prep products.
• Long GETY (Getty Realty Corp) — 9–18 month horizon. Buy shares with a 10% haircut stop. Rationale: selective net-lease exposure to outpatient/education-adjacent properties offers defensive cash flow as graduate-program expansion increases demand for clinic and satellite campus space. Risk/reward: interest-rate sensitivity can drive a 10–15% drawdown; reward is steady AFFO plus potential 10–20% price appreciation on lease reversion and lower cap-rate re-pricing.
• Long CVS (CVS Health) — 12–24 month horizon. Buy shares or buy-and-hold with covered-call overlays to finance carry. Rationale: incumbents with scale in retail pharmacy and PBM are positioned to capture tighter labor-market spreads in licensed roles and higher fee-based services. Risk/reward: regulatory or margin pressure can wipe 15–20% off near-term returns; upside 20–30% from service revenue expansion and stable cash flow.