Before you decide on a degree for university, you have to come to terms that some subject areas offer better financial returns than others.
Research from the London-based Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS) has found that there is “substantial variation in net lifetime returns across subjects” taken by graduates, but that the differences are reduced after accounting for student loans and taxes.
Why does this matter?
Congratulations, you’ve graduated high school! Now comes the difficult part — picking a degree. Source: AFP
Choose wisely for the best financial returns
Deciding on a degree can be daunting.
Your choice will undoubtedly impact your future earning potential and set the tone for the rest of your life.
For example, some degrees, such as teaching or marketing, will potentially have lower lifetime earnings, unless one works their way up the ladder to a more grandiose position like a director or chief executive officer.
Some degrees, like medicine and healthcare, will take longer to complete and are more expensive to pursue, but promise lucrative salaries later on in life.
Some others won’t attract high salaries, but open up more potential for immediate job success upon graduating. Think hospitality, customer service, or recruitment — these jobs are always in demand.
And in today’s rapidly digitised world, some degrees may turn obsolete in just a decade or less. Look at creatives being replaced by generative artificial intelligence, or computer science graduates being outperformed by machines. Some are even forced to pivot to jobs in AI just to stay afloat.
And if that wasn’t enough, the financial returns for each gender may differ.
The fact that some financial returns differ by gender can be a hard pill to swallow. Source: AFP
Men vs women: financial returns on degree subjects
The same report uses projected earnings to suggest that for women, the financial gains of studying creative arts and languages are “close to zero.”
However, high-return subjects such as law, economics or medicine, where graduates have net returns of up to US$333,172.
They add that “almost all women who studied social care are projected to achieve positive returns despite the average return being relatively low”.
Subjects that have relatively low returns but a high share of positive returns are nursing and education, adding “while these subjects are not the most lucrative on average, they see very little variation in average earnings and offer solid returns to essentially all women who study them”.
They add that for women, subjects associated with higher earnings do not necessarily have higher returns because students of some subjects have more favourable background conditions than others.
For men, however, the financial returns vary more.
For instance, the creative arts and social care exhibit negative returns on average, while those who studied medicine or economics have average net returns of around US$666,345.
Meanwhile, the average net lifetime returns for agriculture, English, physical sciences and communications are around zero.
At the other end of the spectrum, maths, computing, medicine and economics offer positive returns to almost all men who study them.
That being said, if strong financial returns and a stable future are what you are seeking, try your hand at these degrees:
As expected, medical degrees always yield some of the highest financial returns. Source: AFP
Three degrees that offer the best financial returns, regardless of gender
Medicine
It’s no surprise that medicine is one of the degrees with the best financial returns, even if you won’t see it early on in your career.
Of course, medical school takes longer to complete — a minimum of five to six years — and your student loans may burn a couple of holes in your pocket. Tuition fees for international students range from 30,000 to 50,000 pounds (US$39,990 to US$66,651 per year, depending on the university.
A report by Oxford College states that the median starting salary is 34,000 pounds (US$45,318) and the field has an employment rate of 98%.
NHS Health Careers — a comprehensive portal for health roles in the UK under the National Health Service (NHS) — reports that speciality doctors will earn a basic salary of 59,175 to 95,400 pounds (US$78,882 to US$127,171).
Medical consultants or private practitioners can earn a basic salary of 105,504 to 139,882 pounds (US$140,640 to US$186,467) annually.
Other subjects allied with medicine, like anatomy, physiology, pathology, pharmacology, toxicology, pharmacy, complementary medicines, therapies, and wellbeing, also offer strong financial returns.
The best party? The UK is home to some of the world’s most prestigious medical schools, and earning a degree at one of them would further boost your earning potential:
- University of Cambridge
- University of Oxford
- UCL (University College London)
- Imperial College London
- The University of Edinburgh
Treat dogs, cats, rabbits, and maybe the occasional bear. Source: AFP
Veterinary
In 2024, veterinary sciences was revealed to be the most employable degree in the UK, with 79% of graduates going straight into full-time work after completing their programme.
This comes after a report that stated the number of vets registered to practise in the UK is expected to rise by more than 50% over the next decade.
Vets are in high demand following the pandemic — more than three million homes in the UK welcomed new pets during lockdown due to social isolation.
There is also the added factor that more couples are choosing to go child-free and would rather adopt a pet or two. As such, there is a need for skilled vets to address health complications and issues around the clock.
Similar to medicine, a veterinary degree can be costly, with fees for international students averaging 34,200 pounds (US$45,504) a year.
There’s hope, however; financial returns are positive — Oxford College reports that the median graduate salary for a veterinary student starts at 31,000 pounds (US$41,321).
This number goes up to 85,954 pounds (US$114,533) a year, according to Indeed.
If you’re interested in pursuing a veterinary course in the UK, here are some institutions to explore:
- University of Surrey
- University of Nottingham
- University of Glasgow
- University of Bristol
- Royal Veterinary College, University of London
Expect high financial returns as an engineer in the UK. Source: AFP
Engineering
Mechanical engineering, civil engineering, software engineering, and petroleum engineering are some of the most sought-after fields in the UK.
The Royal Academy of Engineering’s 2023 report revealed that Britain faces a shortage of 1.5 million engineers by 2030 — with a third of the current engineering workforce expected to retire within the decade and only 90,000 engineering graduates ready to enter the workforce, demand is strong.
As such, the profession is now poised for high financial returns to incentivise more potential talent to enter the field. EngineeringUK’s salary survey reports that apprentices are now commanding starting salaries of 32,000 pounds (US$42,577)in their first year, while chartered engineers earn an average of 80,000 pounds (US$106,444), with potential bonuses on top.
This is in addition to the UK investing heavily in engineering — each year, businesses invest about 9.5 billion pounds (US$12.6 billion) on engineering research and development in the UK, with the government spending about £1.5 billion to 3.1 billion (US$1.9 billion to US$4.1 billion).
This means an engineering education here is well-funded, and you can expect it to be cutting-edge; it’ll set you up for strong financial returns, especially with the robust growth expected in sectors like transportation, renewable energy, and manufacturing.
An engineering programme in the UK costs around 11,800 to 23,500 pounds (US$15,702 to US$31,274) per year, and typically lasts four years.
If you’re an aspiring engineer, here are some of the UK’s best institutions for engineering degrees:
- University of Edinburgh
- University of Birmingham
- Queen Mary University of London
- University of Leeds
- Lancaster University
Disclaimer: This article was last updated on May 16th, 2025.
