Published: February 2, 2011

EarnMyDegree.com released a report naming the top-paying jobs for recently graduated students, among which were network systems administrator, engineer, actuary, software developer and investment banker. The predicted annual salaries of all 10 range from $43,000 to $112,000.

Although academic programming at Fordham College at Lincoln Center (FCLC) is not equipped to prepare students for all of these careers, some seniors said they remain confident that their career plans will not be influenced by the appeal of these lucrative occupations.

According to EarnMyDegree.com, “Money might not be everything, but if you’re a struggling college student there’s a lot of appeal to making sure you’re in the right position to put the days of two-digit bank balances and ramen noodles behind you as quickly as possible.”

Zain Nadeem, FCLC ’11, said he agrees that the salaries for the top-paying jobs are in fact appealing, but he also stresses that monetary gain should not be the only contributing factor when seeking out a career.

“I’m a philosophy major so I kind of knew that large monetary gains were not on my horizon.” Nadeem said. “In the end, it might sound cliché, but you have to do what you love, or something that sparks your interest, at least.”

Ray Saada, FCLC ’11, also said that choosing a career can’t be based solely on financial compensation.

Saada, a communication and media studies major hoping for a career in the music industry, said, “I think it’s sad if anyone is so passionless to just take any job that will pay well.  I could drop out of school, go to school for accounting and make a lot of money.”

Saada also pointed out that certain industries don’t guarantee great wages; individuals do.  “It’s a common dichotomy having to choose between money and happiness, especially when choosing a career.  If you’re passionate enough, you can find a way to make yourself uniquely indispensible so you can get a job.”

Of the jobs EarnMyDegree.com listed as the highest paying, Saada said that none of the jobs are particularly appealing to him and that “they are vague, skill-based jobs.”

Saada said he fears that the “tasks required for these jobs do not contribute to innovation.”

Bernard Stratford, director of experiential education at Fordham, which enhances partnerships between students, alumni and employers, agreed with Saada that neither a particular industry nor a certain major are the sole determining factors for being a qualified candidate for a high paying job.

Stratford said that FCLC is eliminated from the categories of nursing and engineering because the university does not offer programs relating to those fields. However, he said he was optimistic that FCLC students will have promising skill sets by the time they enter the job pool.

“The students at FCLC typically, in my experience… have high level of interpersonal and intellectual skills as well as an awareness of entertainment, and those are all areas of the New York City job culture,” Stratford said. “The creative nature and the liberal arts skills acquired at Fordham, are all readily needed in the 21st knowledge based economy.