College Majors and Earnings Growth
Working Paper Number: CES-26-14
Abstract
We estimate major-specific earnings profiles using matched American Community Survey (ACS) and Longitudinal Employer-Household Dynamics (LEHD) data. Building on Deming and Noray (2020), we exploit a long earnings panel to overcome key limitations of cross-sectional approaches to lifecycle estimation. We find that engineering and computer science majors experience earnings growth that is comparable to or faster than that of other majors, a category including humanities, education, psychology, and similar fields. In contrast, Deming and Noray (2020) use a crosscohort approach and find that earnings for engineering and computer science majors decline relative to other fields over the lifecycle.
Others in Series
Working Paper
Establishment-Level Life Cycle and Analysts' Forecasts
Using Census data, we show that analyst forecasts are less accurate when multi-unit firms’ establishments span different life-cycle stages.
Working Paper
The Mortality Risk of Raising Grandchildren in the United States
Raising grandchildren is related to higher rates of mortality for White grandparents, lower rates for Asians, and mixed results for Blacks and Hispanics.
Working Paper
Housing Wealth and Labor Supply
Housing wealth reduces women's labor force participation, driven primarily by childcare responsibilities, with no significant effect for men.
Page Last Revised - February 25, 2026