Philosophy majors often excel in the workforce. According to a Wall Street Journal report, students who graduated with a B.A. in philosophy had the 16th highest average mid-career salaries out of 50 majors (engineering took the top 7 spots). While the starting salary is near the middle of all majors, the average mid-career salary of philosophy majors quickly rises to $81,200.00, outperforming Finance, International Relations, Marketing, Business Management, Communications, Nursing, Biology, Health Care Administration, and many others.1 To quote the president of Monster.com's MonsterTRAK, “philosophy students fit a profile that employers are seeking more and more.”2 For more information on the types of jobs philosophy majors excel at, click on this link.
Philosophy is also a great major for students who want to keep their graduate school options open. Philosophy majors consistently rank at or near the top of graduate school entrance exams and admissions rates. For example, “of the top 12 majors admitted to ABA-Law Programs, philosophy and history are tied for first place in acceptance rates with 85% of applicants admitted.”3
Philosophy majors have an average ranking of fourth on the Business School GMAT Exams (behind physics, math and engineering),4 second on the Law School LSAT Exams (behind physics and math),5 and first on the verbal and analytic portions of the Humanities GRE Exams .6 While discipline specific updates are no longer provided for medical school exams or admission rates, an old report shows philosophy majors as having had the highest acceptance rates into medical school of any major.7
It is no wonder that so many successful philosophy majors are in the world. From business leaders like the co-founder of PayPal or former Hewlett-Packard CEO to social leaders like Angela Davis and Pope Francis, philosophy majors are often found at the cutting edge of life. Martin Luther King Jr. was so influenced by his philosophical studies that he decided to teach a class on social philosophy at his alma mater, Morehouse College.8
For a thorough discussion of the use of philosophy outside of the academic environment, see the following three part interview series dealing with philosophy outside academia:
Philosophers who work outside of academia--Part 1: how and why do they end up there?
Philosophers who work outside of academia--Part 2: what's it like to have a nonacademic job?
Philosophers who work outside of academia--Part 3: transferrable skills and concrete advice.
Or, you can follow the link below for some broad ideas about what can be achieved with a Masters Degree in Philosophy.
What Can I Do With A Master’s Degree In Philosophy?
1 http://online.wsj.com/public/resources/documents/info-Degrees_that_Pay_you_Back-sort.html
2 http://www.forbes.com/2008/03/27/jobs-workforce-graduates-careers-cx_mk_0327philosophy.html
3 http://www.lsac.org/docs/default-source/publications-%28lsac-resources%29/may_2014_report.pdf
4 http://blog.prep4gmat.com/majors-with-the-highest-and-lowest-gmat-scores/
5 http://legalblogwatch.typepad.com/legal_blog_watch/2009/09/choice-of-college-major-sways-lsat-score.html
6 https://www.ets.org/s/gre/pdf/gre_guide_table4.pdf
7 http://www.amsa.org/AMSA/Homepage/Publications/TheNewPhysician/2000/tnp275.aspx
8 http://www.cnn.com/2013/08/24/us/martin-luther-king-class/
See also:
New York Times, “Philosophers Find the Degree Pays Off in Life And in Work”