Richard Milz with the top 10 highest-paid college majors

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To what extent does your college major dictate your future income? Very much so, according to recent research conducted by Anthony P. Carnevale, Jeff Strohl and Michelle Meltonan at Georgetown University.

The team interviewed hundreds of full-time employees holding various bachelor ‘s degrees and calculated each area of study’s median reported earnings.

The range of earnings is staggering. The highest-paid area of study—petroleum engineering—makes $91,000 (134%) more than the lowest-paid area, counseling psychology.

The researchers wrote that income isn’t the only thing to consider when selecting a major, but hoped their research would help students make educated financial decisions.

Check out the team’s entire findings here.

Top 10 highest-paid college majors

1. Petroleum Engineering: $120,000

2. Pharmacy Pharmaceutical Sciences and Administration: $105,000

3. Mathematics and Computer Science: $98,000

4. Aerospace Engineering: $87,000

5. Chemical Engineering: $86,000

6. Electrical Engineering: $85,000

7. Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering: $82,000

8. Mechanical Engineering: $80,000

9. Metallurgical Engineering: $80,000

10. Mining and Mineral Engineering: $80,000

Top 10 lowest-paid college majors

1. Counseling Psychology: $29,000

2. Early Childhood Education: $36,000

3. Theology and Religious Vocations: $38,000

4. Human Services and Community Organization: $38,000

5. Social Work: $39,000

6. Drama and Theater Arts: $40,000

7. Studio Arts: $40,000

8. Communication Disorders Sciences and Service: $40,000

9. Visual and Performing Arts: $40,000

10. Health and Medical Preparatory Programs: $40,000

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VIA USA TODAY!

Rich Milz USA TODAY – Waffle Taco!

Taco Bell testing breakfast Waffle Taco

Bruce Horovitz, USA TODAY5:34 p.m. EDT May 14, 2013

Hoping to boost breakfast sales, Taco Bell tests so-called Waffle Taco in southern California locations.

Taco Bell has figured out yet another weird way to make a taco: squish it in a waffle.

For several weeks, the nation’s largest Mexican fast-food chain has been testing a so-called Waffle Taco at a handful of locations in Southern California. No, it’s not made with beef, beans and lettuce, but with a scrambled egg, a sausage patty and syrup – plopped inside a waffle folded and served to look like a taco. It sells for 89 cents.

The move comes at a time when breakfast is one of the few growth categories in all of fast food, and not much more than a year after Taco Bell’s new-product gurus shifted into overdrive with the roll-out of its wildly popular Doritos Locos Taco.

Until now, Taco Bell has been absolutely mum on the Waffle Taco. But it’s generating a powerful social-media life, which started with a single Instagram posting. If the current test is a hit, “we’ll roll it out to all of our restaurants that serve breakfast,” spokesman Rob Poetsch wrote to USA TODAY in an e-mail.

While the Waffle Taco will initially raise eyebrows, it may ultimately be a dud, predicts Andrew Smith, a culinary historian and author of Fast Food and Junk Food: An Encyclopedia of What We Love to Eat. “It’s really just breakfast with a taco name,” he says. “What’s so taco-ish about that?”

It also may not be entirely original. While there’s no Waffle Taco at any major chain, several are selling or have sold various versions of waffle sandwiches, including McGriddles at McDonalds, waffle breakfast sandwiches at Dunkin’ Donuts and southern California-based Jack in the Box, which launched its waffle breakfast sandwich last summer.

The Jack in the Box version is made with a fried egg, American cheese and a sausage patty and was introduced as a limited-time offer, says spokesman Brian Luscomb. “But it proved to be so popular among our guests that we added it to our permanent menu,” he says.

Chains rarely do this with limited-time products unless they’re instant hits. Jack in the Box also sells its waffle sandwich all day and night — not just at breakfast.

Behind Taco Bell’s Waffle Taco test is attempt to make a mark in the competitive breakfast arena, where it is slowly trying to expand nationally. The ultimate aim is to put out enough creative items that it can compete against breakfast kingpin McDonald’s.

If nothing else, the Waffle Taco could move the needle in the Southern California market, suggests Smith, the food historian. “In California, anything named ‘taco’ would probably sell better at breakfast than anything not named ‘taco.’ “

Poetsch says that the Waffle Taco is one of many innovations that Taco Bell is exploring at breakfast. “We’re pleased with the initial reaction from our customers,” he says.

Meanwhile, the folks at Jack in the Box are all smiles. “We’re not sure what inspired them to ‘ideate’ their new taco,” says Luscomb, “unless they tried our waffle breakfast sandwich.”

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richardmilz

Richard Milz

USA today