Summer School

For those of us with liberal arts degrees, the topic can be a sensitive one. We’re talking about those published surveys showing the best-and-worst paying college majors.

Inevitably, engineers rule, and this year is no exception. According to a chart courtesy our friends at the Daily Shot [link], six of the top ten best paying majors are in engineering fields. The other four are economics, physics, computer science and math. The bottom five (on a list of fifty) are music, interior design, Spanish, education and religion.

Our own area of concentration (English) ranks #35, just ahead of Forestry (#36), and behind Biology (#34). Surprisingly, Philosophy scored high on the list at #16, lagging Finance (#14), but topping Chemistry (#18) and Geology (#20). We suspect Philosophy majors take a more or less philosophical view of surveys in general.

Of course, long experience has taught us that finance attracts young people from all walks of education. The beauty of corporate finance, investment banking, asset management, direct lending, and all the multiplex disciplines within our industry, is that professionals coming from a wide range of backgrounds can be successful.

Indeed, within our own firm, it’s increasingly clear that being staffed with individuals of diverse experience and skills is essential to optimize team performance. The larger we grow, the more specialized the job requirements become. The larger the orchestra, the more diverse instruments needed.

Among college and business school students, the most frequent question we get asked is, what does it take to get a job in our business?