What'S happening guys it's shane here and in today's article we are going to be talking about the top 10 doctoral degrees. That'S right, we're doing this year's version. This is a super highly requested article. I did last year's version and i got tons of comments asking me about different degrees and asking me to do it again and yes, there were some degrees, some careers, that i didn't include in that last list that i have included in this one.
Getting a doctoral degree is a huge commitment, so you always want to make sure that you're doing your research and that's what this article is hopefully going to help you do and we're going to go over a lot of different factors from how saturated certain careers are.
What the job market's like, also how much money you make and then we're also going to go over how much debt you end up getting into with these different degrees and just some overall x factors and some important things to consider. So with that being said, we are going to jump right into it.
Super excited for this one, but make sure you gently tap that, like button hit the subscribe button and ring the notification bell so that you never miss out on a article number 10 on the list is going to be a doctor of physical therapy, also known as Dpt, this is the degree that you would get in order to become a physical therapist. Now, out of all the degrees that i talk about on this list, this one has the highest job satisfaction.
In fact, this has one of the highest job satisfaction rates out of any career period and basically, they help ill or injured people improve their movement and pain. Now 11 000 people graduated with this degree last year, and the debt to income ratio is about 2.5 to 1.
Don'T pay too much attention to the number itself. This is uh data that i got from student loan planner. This is basically a consulting service that works with people who have masters and doctorates and are in a lot of debt, and so people who would seek these services out are likely people who have more debt. But i do think that, generally speaking, when you compare it to the debt to income ratio of the other ones on this list, you'll see which ones have higher ratios, i got some comments about that last year, so i hope that makes sense.
This doesn't mean that if you make a hundred thousand dollars and there's a two point - five to one debt to income ratio that you're going to go 250 000 in debt. That just means that the people who had this degree and wanted those consulting services if they were making a hundred thousand on average we're about 250 000 in debt. So just wanted to make that super clear.
Now, according to glassdoor.com, the average physical therapist makes about 76 000 a year and according to bls, they make about 89 000. But the job outlook over the next 10 years shows that it's growing at about 22, which is well above average uh just to compare that average is around four to five percent. And if you look at the meaning score, it's 89, which is one of the highest out of all careers. You look at so, even though the salary is a little bit lower than a lot of them on this list.
You know 70, 80, 90, 000 or so the meaning score kind of makes up for it, and that's why i did include it next. One on the list. Number nine is going to be dentist and they either have a dds, which is a doctor of dental surgery or a dmd, which is a doctor of dental medicine, and these degrees are basically exactly the same.
I'M not even sure why they have two different names, but anyways last year about 6 000 people graduated with this doctorate and by the way this is what's known as a professional doctorate degree uh, compared to something like a doctor of philosophy which we'll be going over In a little bit, and basically professional degrees, in my opinion, are almost like the combination of a trade certificate like trade school mixed with traditional education and the reason for that is because a lot of the time in traditional education, when you get a degree, you end Up doing something that has nothing to do with the degree the skills you learn from the degree will still probably help you in whatever you endeavor to do, but when it comes to professional degrees, you are learning exactly what you need to know in order to do A very specific career, so, for instance, if you get a dental degree, you're going to become a dentist, if you get a law degree you're going to become a lawyer and if you get a medical degree, you're going to become a doctor now with this one, they Make about 166 000 a year according to glassdoor and according to bls they make about a hundred and fifty nine thousand, and it's growing at about seven percent, which is slightly above average.
So when you see the seven percent there uh compared to a lot of other health degrees, not quite as good now, the debt to income ratio is 2.5 to one which isn't too bad.
But you also have to consider the fact that that's just student loan debt and a lot of the time dentists actually take out other loans in order to start their own business. So they might end up going like a million dollars in debt in order to start their practice, and then they aren't able to pay it down until they're in their 30s or 40s, so becoming a dentist is kind of a long-term play.
It'S one of those things where you basically sacrifice what you're doing today in order to gain more in the future for a very, very long time, but with that being said, can be a great choice for the right type of person, not personally my cup of tea.
I like to secure the bag so to speak at an earlier age, so that i can actually enjoy my 20s and 30s, but yeah dentists make the best money out of anybody on this list, except for one profession which we'll be going over here in a bit.
Next, one on the list is going to be a science phd. Now this one does come with a disclaimer. Not all science phds are created equally. So an example of this one would be a science phd in chemistry. Last year, about 2700 people did graduate with this doctorate.
Now the thing about a lot of science related degrees is, unfortunately it's so complicated and it takes so much skill that you have to get a doctorate in order to get a lot of these jobs that are available.
But if you are able to get a doctorate which, by the way is very difficult - usually it's - you know four years of undergrad another eight years to get your phd so 12 years total and during that time, you're going to be working and studying extremely hard.
But with that being said, it can pay off, especially if you're somebody who's truly passionate about whatever you're studying and you know, glassdoor has scientists making about 97 000 a year, and this is specifically for chemists.
The next one on the list is going to be lawyer and they get a juris doctor degree or jd. Now this is one of the most popular doctorate degrees. Last year about 34 000 people graduated with this one.
The debt to income ratio here is about 2
8 to 1, so getting on the higher side, not too bad, though, and if you are able to get a job, you get paid really well about 112 000 a year according to glassdoor, but that's actually a big.
If? Because a lot of people go to law, school get their jd and then they either don't find work at all or they find a job. Do entry-level work kind of grunt work for a while uh get worked really hard working like 60-80 hours a week.
In many cases and then end up quitting the career and just going in a completely different direction, i made an entire article about this kind of breaking down all the reasons you shouldn't become a lawyer, but for the right person, somebody who's, probably an a type personality.
Confident competitive, driven uh, this can be a really good opportunity for you. So lawyer is one of those careers that has very, very high upside we're talking. You can make like tens of millions of dollars a year as a lawyer, but it also has a very low downside, whereas a lot of other degrees on this list are health related and with health degrees. You kind of know what you're going to get.
If you get a health related major health related degree go into a career, you kind of know what you're going to make it's relatively stable, there's, not much of a difference between the highest earners and the lowest earners.
Now, according to bls lawyers, make about 122 000 a year and it's growing at six percent, which is slightly above average, so yeah definitely check that article out um. If you're considering going to law school, make sure you do your research on it. But if you do decide to go make sure you go to a good school and you are a top student next one on the list.
Number six is going to be pharmacist and this is the career you'd go into. If you got a pharmd or a doctor of pharmacy, this is a degree i got and pharmacists are legal, drug dealers and experts on pharmacology.
I wonder if youtube's gon na demonetize me for saying that anyways last year about 14 000 people did graduate with this degree.
Now, according to glassdoor you're gon na make about a hundred and twenty two thousand dollars a year according to bls, you make about a hundred and twenty eight thousand and they have a two point: two to one debt to income ratio, which is one of the lowest On this list now i will say this is one of those degrees that kind of attracts a lot of people who are just trying to a make a lot of money or b get a relatively easy doctorate, so definitely do not go into pharmacy for either of Those two reasons only go into it if you're passionate about it - and you know what you're getting yourself into number five on the list is going to be a stem without the s just technology, engineering and mathematics, doctoral level degree.
So this is going to be a phd or doctor of philosophy in a technology, engineering or mathematics degree. So one example of this would be an electrical engineering phd.
Now again i will say here that some degrees are going to be better than others when it comes to getting your phd, so you really want to look into it because there's a lot of careers that absolutely do not require you to get a phd.
So you want to go to people who are currently in the career you're going for and ask them.
Will you know getting a phd help me or do i not need to do that? Can i do it with a master's or a bachelor's, but with that being said, the average electrical engineer makes about 95 000 a year and of course they would probably make a lot more than that, because you can become an electrical engineer with just a bachelor. So if you had a doctorate, you'd be making quite a bit more number, four on the list is going to be a college professor, with a phd.
Now it's very very difficult to become a college professor. Now i've talked about this in my article about. Should you go to graduate school, but there are basically way more people who are trying to become professors than there are assistant, professor positions open at some degrees in some schools. It'S absolutely ridiculous, where there's like 400 applications for one open position, but with that being said, if you are able to become a college professor, not only is it really well paying, but it tends to be a pretty cool job.
According to glassdoor, the average professor nationwide makes about a hundred and fourteen thousand dollars and according to bls, it's growing at about 11, which is faster than average, but yeah be very, very careful. If you want to become a professor, it's not guaranteed very difficult to get into it.
You really have to dedicate yourself and know what you're getting yourself into number three on the list is going to be a doctor of nursing practice in order to become a doctoral level. Nurse practitioner last year about 3 500 people graduated with this degree. This is one of my favorite careers because you can prescribe diagnose and you don't have to be under the supervision of a doctor. So this is basically a way to do a very similar job to what doctors do without having to go through three to seven years of residency.
Now nurse practitioners make about a hundred and twenty one thousand dollars a year according to glassdoor.com and that's including masters as well as doctoral level, nurse practitioners and so at the doctoral level, you'd likely be making even more than that, so yeah really good. One has very high job satisfaction as well. It'S growing at a ridiculous rate, there's tons of job openings out there. So definitely one you should consider if you want to go into the medical field.
Number two on the list is going to be a dental specialist, something like an orthodontist. So basically this would be an add-on to becoming a dentist. So the typical dentist is going to go to four years of undergrad four years of dental school, and then you know, if you just want to become a dentist, that's good you're good to go. If you want to become an orthodontist, you usually have to do an extra three years of residency.
However, orthodontists can make a lot more money than dentists, so orthodontists generally specialize in aligning teeth and jaws, so putting braces on people doing invisalign that sort of thing, whereas dentists are just general mouth teeth, etc. Health. Now you can also become an endodontist or a periodontist.
I'M not really going to go into those, but they also make quite a bit of money as well. Now orthodontists are relatively rare, there's not nearly as many of them, but they are going to make more than a dentist, usually about 290 000 a year or so, but that's with about 11 total years of school and residency, which is very similar to the next one. On the list, number one is going to be medical doctor, and this is what you would become if you got an md or a do, which is a medical doctorate or a doctor of osteopathic medicine.
Now this one actually has the lowest debt to income ratio on the list at 1.64 to 1.
And last year, about 24 000 people graduated with either an md or a do now. In order to become a medical doctor, it is a grueling process.
First of all, you have to do four years of undergrad get your bachelor's degree, and on top of that, you have to have excellent grades and do lots of different extracurriculars in order to get into med school. If you are lucky enough to get into med school, which i've personally seen, people fail to get in four times in a row, multiple people.
But if you are lucky enough to get into med school, then you have four years of even more grueling schooling to go through. Then, if you make it through that, you've got another three to seven years of residency and you might end up doing a fellowship on top of that. That'S two to three years.
So most people do not start making the big bucks making the real money until they're. In their 30s, and sometimes late, 30s or even 40s, now, overall, when it comes to the value that you get out of a degree, i've talked about this many times on the channel. I think for most people, just generally speaking, the best value degree is a bachelor's right. You get the most bang for the buck by just getting your bachelor's, but in certain situations for certain people it does make sense to get a doctorate like a medical doctor.
So, according to glassdoor.com, they make about a hundred and eighty three thousand dollars a year which is the highest on this list, except for maybe orthodontist. But it really depends on which specialty you go into as a doctor and keep in mind as a dentist or an orthodontist you're likely going to have to take out a loan in order to start your practice.
So there's going to be a lot more debt involved in that, and i did a article where i talked about different specialties that make a lot more money. Uh. Generally speaking, you know, neurosurgery is the highest paying specialty you make about 617 000 a year, but there's even sub-specialties of that where you can make into the 800 000 plus dollars a year, and then you do see the occasional doctor here there that owns their own Business and they're, very famous or they're, very good, at whatever they do they can make in the millions of dollars a year, the lowest paying doctor specialty is pediatric infectious disease at about 186, 000
So when i think it comes to medical doctor, this list is a little bit off. They will likely make quite a bit more than 183 000 but yeah. I hope you enjoyed the list uh check out my other articles right here. I made them just for you.
Go ahead hit that, like button come on now hit the subscribe button too, while you're at it uh bring the notification bell and comment down below any thoughts, comments, etc that you have on the article, and i will see you next time -
