Highest-paid college major is math at Duke Universitywith grads earning an eye-popping salary

They’ve got more dough than they can count!The highest-earning degree in the United States is mathematics at Duke University — with graduates earning a staggering median income of nearly $300,000, new data shows.The number-crunchers raked in the biggest paychecks —  $297,029 annually — four years after graduating from the esteemed university in either 2018 or 2019, according to new federal earnings figures.Grads who majored in computer science at Carnegie Mellon University were the second-highest earners with a median income of $268,121, the data from the US Department of Education’s College Scorecard website revealed.The third-highest-paid major was electrical, electronics and communications engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, with grads earning $250,168 just four years after graduation.Computer and science majors at the University of Pennsylvania placed fourth, earning $241,380.One reason for Duke math majors’ success is they often have interests beyond just numbers and formulas, teachers and students told the New York Times. “I don’t know a single math major who was only doing math,” said Faisal Alsaadi, who graduated in 2019 and has worked at start-ups in Saudi Arabia.He said he double-majored in math and economics.“I like it when I’m able to train young people to think mathematically and then they take it into every part of the world,” said Ezra Miller, a Duke professor. Miller said three current undergraduates with double majors recently won an international math competition by building models to maximize a soccer team’s performance.While math majors often get good, high-earning jobs, that’s not always what motivates them, he added.“It does also attract people who are interested in beauty and truth,” Miller said.However, Greg Herschlag, a Duke math professor, pointed out that paychecks aren’t the best way to measure grads’ success. “I would rather universities and departments be judged not simply by how well...