Advertising Jobs Lead List of Careers, Offering Best Return on Investment
Bankrate studied the return on investment for 20 popular careers.
June 11, 2013 — -- intro: A new Bankrate study that estimates how long it would take to repay student loans according to career choice should help parents and students looking to invest those college dollars wisely.
With Friday's jobs report showing an uptick in the unemployment rate to 7.6 percent, students and parents need to put extra thought into which majors will offer the best prospects and return on investment after graduation.
Bankrate.com ranked 20 popular careers and related majors according to their median compensation and the amount of time it would take to repay student loans for each.
Jessica Patel, a personal finance analyst at Bankrate.com, said this was the first time the financial website had conducted such a study. Bankrate.com used the most recent data from the national Center for Education Statistics and the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"With student loan rates as high as they are now and student loan debt increasingly growing, we wanted parents and children to have a tool for the best jobs for the money," Patel said.
Catch up on the Student Loan Overhaul Debate
In July, federal Stafford loan interest rates are expected to double to 6.8 percent. The average amount of debt from the college class of 2013 is $35,200, according to Fidelity.
After studying 20 popular careers, Patel said so-called "stable" careers, such as doctor or lawyer, often failed to offer a higher financial return, because of their higher educational costs.
"You don't need a graduate degree or don't need to go to school for as long as you think to have a well-paying job," she said.
A job in advertising or marketing, which does not require a post-graduate degree, was the career with the least amount of time to repay student debt. Assuming that 10 percent of one's salary goes toward repaying school loans, a median salary of $107,950, a total higher education cost of $52,596 (tuition, fees, room and board) and a 6 percent student loan interest rate, it would take 5.83 years to repay student debt.
Of the 20 careers, the job with the longest loan repayment time was marriage and family therapist, which requires about two years of graduate school. Assuming a salary of $46,670, it would take about 34.67 years to repay student debt in that field.
Here are 20 popular career choices analyzed by Bankrate.com.
quicklist:1category: 5.83 years to repaytitle: Advertising, Marketing, Promotionstext: Minimum required years of higher education: 4
Cost of degree: $52,596
Median pay: $107,950
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $10,795
quicklist:2category: 7.08 years to repaytitle: Economisttext: Minimum required years of higher education: 4
Cost of degree: $52,596
Median pay: $91,860
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $9,186
quicklist:3category: 8.50 years to repay title:Civil Engineertext:Minimum required years of higher education: 4
Cost of degree: $52,596
Median pay: $79,340
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $7,934
quicklist:4category: 8.58 years to repaytitle: Political Scientisttext:Minimum required years of higher education: 6
Cost of degree: $68,010
Median pay: $102,000
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $10,200
quicklist:5category: 10.83 years to repay title: Pharmacisttext:Minimum required years of higher education: 7
Cost of degree: $92,421
Median pay: $116,670
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $11,667
quicklist:6category: 10.83 years to repay title: Microbiologisttext:Minimum required years of higher education: 4
Cost of degree: $52,596
Median pay: $66,260
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $6,626
quicklist:7category: 10.92 years to repaytitle: Physician: Family or General Practitionertext:Minimum required years of higher education: 8
Cost of degree: $136,861
Median pay: $172,020
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $17,202
quicklist:8category: 11.50 years to repaytitle: Accountanttext:Minimum required years in higher education: 4
Cost of degree: $52,596
Median pay: $63,550
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $6,355
quicklist:9category: 12.42 years to repaytitle: Market Research Analysttext:Minimum required years of higher education: 4
Cost of degree: $52,596
Median pay: $60,300
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $6,030
quicklist:10category: 13.33 years to repay title: Lawyertext:Minimum required years of higher education: 7
Cost of degree: $103,677
Median pay: $113,530
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $11,353
quicklist:11category: 13.75 years to repay title: Dentist text:Minimum required years of higher education: 8
Cost of degree: $139,298
Median pay: $149,310
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $14,931
quicklist:12category: 14 years to repaytitle: Political Science Teacher: Post-Secondarytext:Minimum required years of higher education: 6
Cost of degree: $68,010
Median pay: $72,170
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $7,217
quicklist:13category: 14.67 years to repaytitle: Public Relations Specialisttext:Minimum required years of higher education: 4
Cost of degree: $52,596
Median pay: $54,170
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $5,417
quicklist:14category: 19.08 years to repaytitle: English Language/Literature Teacher: Post-Secondarytext:Minimum required years of higher education: 6
Cost of degree: $68,010
Median pay: $60,040
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $6,004
quicklist:15category: 20.58 years to repay title: Zoologist, Wildlife Biologisttext:Minimum required years of higher education: 6
Cost of degree: $68,010
Median pay: $57,710
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $5,771
quicklist:16category: 22.33 years to repay title: Librariantext:Minimum required years of higher education: 6
Cost of degree: $68,010
Median pay: $55,370
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $5,537
quicklist:17category: 21.75 years to repay title: Teacher (full-time)text:Minimum required years of higher education: 4
Cost of degree: $52,596
Median pay: $43,400
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $4,340
quicklist:category: 27.92 years to repay title: Veterinariantext:Minimum required years of higher education: 8
Cost of degree: $114,268
Median pay :$84,460
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $8,446
quicklist:category: 31.83 years to repay title: News Analyst, Reporter, Correspondenttext:Minimum required years of higher education: 4
Cost of degree: $52,596
Median pay: $37,090
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $3,709
quicklist:category: 34.67 years to repay title: Marriage and Family Therapisttext:Minimum required years of higher education: 6
Cost of degree: $68,010
Median pay: $46,670
Annual repayment at 10 percent of salary: $4,667
Read more about the College Class of 2013's $35,200 Average Debt.