STEM vs Business Degrees: Are the Salaries and Job Prospects Really Better?
STEM vs Business Degrees: Are the Salaries and Job Prospects Really Better?
For years, STEM degrees—spanning science, technology, engineering, and mathematics—have been promoted as the surest path to high-paying, future-proof careers. At the same time, business degrees have offered a more flexible, management-oriented route into the working world. But in 2025, the picture is more complex. Rising tuition fees, a cooling tech sector, global layoffs, visa uncertainty, and the disruptive impact of AI are reshaping the graduate job market and challenging long-held assumptions about the advantages of STEM degrees. In the last few months we have written extensively on the threats of AI to early stage careers and how universities will need to respond to stay relevant.
STEM Degrees: Still a Strong Investment?
On average, STEM graduates still enjoy higher starting salaries than their business counterparts, especially in fields like software engineering, data science, cybersecurity, and engineering. In the U.S., for instance, new grads in computer science or electrical engineering can start with salaries between $75,000 and $100,000. Business graduates, by contrast, often begin their careers closer to the $50,000–$70,000 range, unless they enter elite industries like investment banking, management consulting, or private equity.
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