Philosophy

Philosophy students are, on the whole, better prepared for a lifetime of achievement than other majors:

• PayScale showed that philosophy majors rank in the top 100 of all academic fields for average mid-career salary, at $84,100. Philosophy majors, ranked 95th, bested graduates who studied business administration, political science, pre-medicine, biology, psychology and journalism.
• PayScale also shows that Philosophy is the highest paying major of all the humanities, both in early and late career.
• Philosophy majors have the highest mean scores on the GRE.
• Philosophy majors the highest mean scores on the LSAT (law school admissions test) — better than political science, pre-law and business majors.
• Philosophy majors have better mean scores on the GMAT (business school admissions test) than economics, statistics, finance, and accounting majors.

Philosophical study is excellent preparation for graduate school. It has been well documented that those who study philosophy do better on graduate admissions tests (for law, medical, and graduate school) than those who did not.

More generally employers are looking for employees who have good critical thinking skills. Philosophy majors have been specially trained in how to think through long-standing problems in original ways. It is unlikely that anyone ever got a job because he could recite Plato’s Allegory of the Cave. However, a skills-based background in philosophy can develop proficiency in communication, analysis, argumentation, and reflection, necessary for any position of responsibility. Philosophy has proved to be a good preparation for jobs in business, the helping professions, as well as public service.