Here's how you land a high-paying job—it has nothing to do with your college major, says advisor of 20 years

After 25 years in higher education, working with thousands of students on college success and career outcomes, I've come to a conclusion that surprises many families: We're asking the wrong question about college.

Too often, young people are told to focus on picking the "right" major, usually defined as the one that leads to the highest starting salary. It's the benchmark many chase, and the one I see students stressing over most.

But that's not how careers actually unfold. Over time, I've watched students from vastly different majors land in similar places professionally. I've seen liberal arts and communications graduates catch up to peers in business and STEM. I've also seen students in "practical" majors plateau earlier than expected.

Time and time again, I tell students and their parents that what matters most is how you use your time in college, not the major itself.

Research from the Burning Glass Institute supports what I've seen firsthand: While some majors lead to higher starting salaries, those differences don't stay fixed. Many graduates in nontechnical fields close the gap within a decade.

So yes, the first job matters. But long-term success tends to come from four factors: choosing a major that fits, building valuable skills, gaining real-world experience, and developing strong networks. Here's how they all work together.

There are students who love what they study, but struggle with the coursework or can't translate it into anything viable after graduation. The passion is there, but alignment isn't. Alignment forces a student to look at key questions: What am I interested in? What am I good at? Where are the opportunities?

Research from Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity shows that outcomes vary by major. But even within the same major, students' results diverge quickly.

That's because the major alone doesn't determine the outcome. Students who are more intentional about how their major connects to real opportunities — that actually interest them — tend to pull ahead.

Graduates with adaptable skill sets tend to keep growing over time, while others level off.

I've seen this play out again and again. Students who started with modest salaries, like communications, political science and English majors, went on to become executives, entrepreneurs and leaders. Ten or 15 years later, where they started barely matters.

Yet starting salary is still treated as the headline metric, and that's a mistake. Some degrees, especially technical ones, do lead to strong early pay. That part is real. But what happens after is far less predictable.

As Inside Higher Ed notes, graduates with adaptable skills often continue to grow while others plateau. In the long run, that difference matters far more than where you begin.

Technical skills can open doors, but they don't determine how far someone goes. The people who keep advancing tend to build strengths like communication, leadership, problem-solving and decision-making under pressure.

Employers consistently rank these as critical, according to the National Association of Colleges and Employers.

I think of three students I advised at Howard University. Each had a different major, but all led the university's large-scale homecoming committee, arguably one of the most complex student-run events in the country. They learned how to coordinate teams, manage pressure, and make high-stakes decisions.

After graduation, all three built successful, high-salary careers in event planning and management, working for major brands and launching their own businesses. Different majors, same outcome. The difference was the transferable skills they developed.

The classroom matters, but some of the most important growth happens through leadership roles, student organizations, campus involvement and hands-on projects

I've seen student government leaders go on to run complex operations across industries. I've watched engaged students build careers in media, business, the arts, and entrepreneurship.

In many cases, how they spent their time in college mattered more than their first job after graduation.

Rasheem Rooke is the Assistant Vice President of Scholarships and Programs at the United Negro College Fund. With deep expertise in college access, affordability and student success, his work focuses on helping students and families navigate the financial realities of higher education. Rooke is also the author of "Thriving in College: 10 Real World Lessons for College Success."

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