Report shows ICS grad degrees lead to high-paying, low-stress jobs

June 5, 2015

Fortune / PayScaleThose graduating this spring with advanced degrees in statistics, informatics, computer science and other information sciences can rest easy, according to a graduate degree and job prospect report released by Fortune magazine. Time Inc.’s business magazine—best known for its business revenue ranking list the “Fortune 500”—commissioned career website PayScale to identify the top 15 graduate degrees that lead to lucrative careers, and those that lead to high stress and low pay. The top four graduate degrees included doctorates in statistics and computer science, and master’s degrees in biostatistics and human-computer interaction. Several information science-related degrees rounded out the top 15, including master’s degrees in statistics, computer science, software engineering, and information science.

The Donald Bren School of Information and Computer Sciences (ICS) offers graduate degrees in nearly all of these fields, with master’s and doctoral degrees offered in statistics, computer science, software engineering, and an innovative approach to human-computer-interaction with the informatics program. ICS was ranked 23rd worldwide among computer science graduate programs by U.S. News and World Report in 2014.

PayScale evaluated graduate degrees based on long-term outlook for job growth, mid-career median salaries, job satisfaction scores and work stress levels. Specific breakdowns of these figures can be found in Fortune’s complete report.