You will write a report on estimating how much are you most likely to earn after
graduation. Below is the detailed instruction for you to complete the assignment:
1. Select two to four Occupations that you are interested in pursuing after graduation.
These should align with your major area of study (your major, majors, or major minor).
2. Research and Collect Relevant Data: Below is a list of suggested data sources which
are very helpful for your analysis. Please browse the websites and carefully examine the
data provided. Use the data to gather relevant wage information needed for your
estimates. You are allowed to supplement your analysis with additional reliable sources,
be sure to cite all sources in your report.
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage StatisticsLinks to an external site.
BLS Wage Data by Area and OccupationLinks to an external site.
Earnings by EducationLinks to an external site.
ACS Detailed Field of Degree and Median Annual EarningsLinks to an external site.
Modeled Wage Estimates from BLSLinks to an external site.
CPS Data TablesLinks to an external site.
3. Perform Analysis: Below is the instruction to guide your analysis; you don't have to
follow the exact same sequence but you should at least include all the factors that are
suggested to be considered (industry, location, education degree, major, age, and gender);
, feel free to discuss all the other factors that you believe important for your estimates. If
you want to perform analysis that is different from the instruction, make sure to describe
the analysis procedure clearly.
Summary Statistics: Present the wage distribution (by quartiles or percentiles) data for the
chosen occupation(s). You can also directly go to the next step(s) if the wage statistics are
based on industry or location, or areas of study, etc.
Determine how the wages vary by industry and locations (the metropolitan areas that you
plan to work).
Analyze how your degree in your major (e.g., Economics) influences potential earnings.
Further adjust for other factors such as age and gender that may impact earnings in your
chosen occupations.
If you believe there are other important factors affecting the wage estimate, please
describe those factors and analyze how they affect your estimate.
Use graphs or tables to visualize the data where appropriate.
Regression analysis is optional but recommended. If you use regression analysis, please
clearly describe the type of regression, dependent and independent variables.