One of the biggest decisions every college student has to make is what field of study to major in. While it doesn’t necessarily lock you into a career path, choosing a specific major over another can set you up for success in a particular industry you might be interested in.
However, some fields of study can set the stage for financial success as well. UK-based job site Adview recently combed through the Forbes 400 (the USA’s 400 richest billionaires) to determine what they studied in school, where they went to school, and what their first job was.
SEE: IT jobs 2018: Hiring priorities, growth areas, and strategies to fill open roles (Tech Pro Research)
Of those 400 billionaires, here were the top 10 college majors, and how many billionaires each area of study produced:
- Economics and finance – 62
- Engineering – 43
- Business – 38
- Mathematics – 14
- Computer – 11
- Politics – 10
- English – 9
- History – 9
- Philosophy – 6
- Physics – 6
Of the 400 people studied, only 44 (11%) were college dropouts, Adview noted. However, when it came to the top 100 people, that number was closer to 20%.
Of those who went to school, there were 162 total school represented, Adview said. Here are the top 10 universities and how many billionaires they produced:
- University of Pennsylvania – 19
- Yale University – 13
- Stanford University – 12
- University of Southern California – 11
- Harvard University – 10
- Cornell University – 8
- Columbia University – 7
- Dartmouth College – 7
- Princeton University – 6
- University of Michigan – 6
But what about what these people did for work? After all, they probably didn’t make billions of dollars as a student. Here were the top 10 first jobs held by the Forbes 400, according to Adview:
- Salesperson- 23
- Military – 21
- Attorney/Lawyer – 16
- Engineer – 15
- Software Programmer/Engineer – 12
- Stock Trader/Broker – 10
- Analyst – 9
- Clerk – 9
- Consultant – 7
- Real Estate – 7
