Top College Degrees to Help You Achieve Homeownership

When you declared your college major, you likely chose it based on passion, interest and childhood dreams.

But, what if you are more concerned with the long term, like making a reasonable salary? One that would allow you to pay back or pay off your student loans and still be comfortable? One that would allow you to buy a home?

That begs the question, “What college degrees are best for aspiring homeowners?”

Drumroll please! If you’re a college graduate who’d like to become a homeowner in the least amount of time, you’d better study engineering — and just about any type — as the top of the list was dominated by various engineering degrees.

In an analysis that underscores how consistent and diligent saving can make homeownership viable for all types of majors, the No. 1 spot was snagged by petroleum engineering.

With an average starting salary of $96,700, that allows for a savings per year of $19,340, it would take a petroleum engineering graduate about 2.6 years to save for the down payment on that $250,000 home.

While petroleum engineering and many other engineering-focused career paths may offer the fastest route to homeownership, other degrees that made the top 50 included the following:

• Physician Assistant Studies (No. 2 at 2.9 years)
• Dental Hygiene (No. 14 at 3.8 years)
• Computer Science (No. 15 at 3.8 years)
• Computer Science & Mathematics (No. 20 at 3.9 years)
• Packaging Science (No. 29 at 4.1 years)
• Actuarial Science (No. 30 at 4.1 years)
• Physical Therapy (No. 31 at 4.1 years)
• Informatics (No. 32 at 4.2 years)
• Finance & Real Estate (No. 37 at 4.2 years)
• Information Security (No. 40 at 4.3 years)
• Management Information Systems (No. 41 at 4.3 years)
• Diagnostic Medical Sonography (No. 43 at 4.3 years)
• Nursing (No. 45 at 4.3 years)
• Statistics (No. 46 at 4.4 years)
• Construction Management (No. 47 at 4.4 years)
• Management Science (No. 49 at 4.4 years)

The data illustrated that education degrees, like Education and Secondary English Teacher Education, hold the longest path to homeownership at an average of seven years. The slowest of the 337 degrees in the study at 8.1 years was Early Childhood Education.

These are the college degrees that’ll put you on the path to homeownership the fastest:

1. Petroleum Engineering
2. Physician Assistant Studies
3. Computer Science & Engineering
4. Mining Engineering
5. Chemical Engineering
6. Computer Engineering
7. Nuclear Engineering
8. Electrical & Computer Engineering
9. Electronics & Communications Engineering
10. Electrical Engineering