 what's happening guys, it's Shane here. And in today's video, we are going to be talking about the highest paying doctoral degrees. Now, we're going to be talking about PhDs, some more academic related degrees, but we're also going to be talking about professional degrees as well. So a PhD is basically a doctorate of philosophy, then professional degrees, I like to describe them as a combination of a trade school education, as well as a college degree. And what I mean by that is, let's say you go to trade school, and you learn the trade of plumbing, that's probably because you want to become a plumber. So it's a very obvious and direct career path to whatever job that you're going for. So it's very similar with professional degrees. So if you go to school, for instance, to, you know, study medicine and become a medical doctor, you're going to get a medical degree. And so that's why they consider an MD to be a professional degree. Same thing with becoming a lawyer or a pharmacist. Whereas if you get a PhD in something like biology, it's not nearly as straightforward. You could become a professor or a scientist or a researcher or unemployed or something completely unrelated. So just wanted to establish that really quickly. All of these degrees are going to fall under those two categories. And you're going to get a lot out of this video, I'm really excited to do it for you. So number 10 on the list is going to be lawyer. And in order to become a lawyer, you get what's known as a JD JD stands for Juris Doctor. And yes, this is a doctoral degree. And last year, about 30,000 people did graduate with this degree. So it's very common. And according to Glassdoor, the average lawyer makes about $112,000 a year. But there's just a little problem with that. This isn't what the average lawyer makes. This is what the average lawyer who is employed reports to Glassdoor.com. Because the truth is many people who become attorneys or lawyers end up either a not working as a lawyer or B working as a lawyer, but only doing it part time. And then on the other end of the spectrum, there are lawyers that are making millions and millions of dollars a year. So that definitely skews the statistics. And there are honestly a lot of negatives to becoming a lawyer. I made an entire video about it. You can check that out. I'll have it pop up on the screen. But with that being said, there is a reason why I included this one on the list. And that reason is because if you are the right type of person to become a lawyer, this can be a fantastic choice for you. So most people without a doubt should not become a lawyer for the reasons that I mentioned in that video. This is one of those careers that is very high risk, but also high reward, meaning you could either not get a job at all, or you could start a successful business or get a job where you're making millions of dollars a year. So if you're an A type personality, you're very competitive, you're up for a challenge, this might be a very good option for you. Number nine is going to be a little bit more of a solid option. And that is going to be getting a PhD in engineering. Now there are a lot of different types of engineering degrees for the purposes of this video. I'm going to use electrical engineering as the example. Last year, about 2200 people did graduate with a doctorate in electrical engineering. And according to Glassdoor, the average electrical engineer does make about $95,000 a year. Now, of course, if you had a PhD, you would likely be quite a bit above average. So you should be able to easily make it into the six figure range, probably quite a bit more than that. But with that being said, getting a PhD is a huge commitment. It's much more difficult to get a PhD than it is to get most professional doctorates. Your average PhD program is going to take over eight years, and that's on top of getting a bachelor. So if you include the bachelors, it's 12 years total. And during this time, you will likely be studying and working a ton. So we're talking 60 to 80 hours a week. PhD programs are extremely intensive. And that's why so many people don't even make it through. That's right. About 50% of doctoral students in PhD programs don't actually make it through. If you compare that to a professional doctoral degree like medical doctorate, for instance, which is also very grueling, medical school is no, you know, walk in the park by any means, but still about 80 to 85% of them end up graduating. And that's just the four year graduation rate. If you look at the six year graduation rate, it's all the way up at about 95%. On top of that, when you get a PhD, you have to do what's known as a doctoral dissertation, which is basically where you do completely original research. And then you present that to a board of experts, and they have to approve it after they basically grill you for a long period of time. So to summarize everything here, getting a PhD is harder, takes longer, you're much more likely to fail. And if all of that wasn't enough, you also make less money than if you just got a professional degree. But with all of that being said, it can still be worth it in some cases for some people in specific situations to get a PhD. Now, the great thing about engineering degrees is usually you don't have to get a graduate level degree in order to get a job. However, if you're somebody who truly loves what you're doing, there's a particular job that you're going for that, you know, requires a doctorate. And maybe you want to learn your subject at an even higher level than going for a PhD can make sense. And another reason that going for a PhD can make sense is going to be number eight on this list, which is getting any PhD and then becoming a professor. Now, professors on average make about $114,000 a year, but very similar to the statistic for lawyers. This is a little bit misleading, because it's incredibly difficult to become a professor. So MIT, for instance, gets 400 job applications to every single open assistant professor job. And that was for engineering related assistant professor positions. Now, if you look at other types, for instance, in these social sciences, it's even worse. In 1970, there were about two to three psychology PhD graduates per assistant professor. And now it's up to eight. And it gets even worse than that. Columbia University, for instance, came under criticism because they had 19 PhD students per professor. So it is incredibly competitive out there for PhDs who want to become professors. However, if you are able to become a professor, especially a tenured professor, it is a super good job, not only when it comes to the pay, but also just your overall quality of life. So this one can be something to look into for the right person. Number seven on the list is a computer science PhD. Last year, about 981 people graduated with this doctorate. Now the average computer scientist makes about $105,000 a year. With a PhD, you would likely be making much more than this. So according to levels dot FYI, an L five at Google, which is a relatively advanced position, makes around $357,000 a year in total compensation. This includes your salary, bonus, as well as stock compensation. So it's no surprise that this one makes it on the list. Computer science and the skill of coding in general, at every single level, whether you teach yourself or you get a doctorate is going to be relatively good. But with that being said, in a lot of tech related careers and computer science, specifically, there are other options outside of the traditional education. Some people teach themselves, some people take bootcamps, some people go to alternative schooling. So definitely check your options because you definitely don't have to get a doctorate in computer science in order to get a job. Number six on the list is going to be a PhD in physics. And last year, about 1600 people did graduate with this doctorate level degree. And according to Glassdoor, physicists make about $113,000 a year. Now you can technically become a physicist with just a master's degree, but most of them do have doctorates. So this one is very high paying. It's also incredibly difficult, probably even more difficult than an engineering degree. If you watch the video of the most difficult degrees, this one did come in at number one. So if you love math, you're like a borderline genius, this one can be great for you. But for the average person, just keep that in mind. Number five on the list is going to be a professional degree. And that is going to be a doctor of optometry in order to become an optometrist. And the doctor of optometry degree is also known as an OD. And last year, about 1600 people did graduate with this degree. And with this one, you would expect to make about $121,000 a year. And as a side note, this is one where I've been researching it quite a bit lately, because I put it a little bit lower on the list that I did last year. But on this list, it jumped up quite a bit. And the main reason for that is because I realized that a lot of people have deteriorating vision because we all spend a ridiculous amount of time looking at our phones, iPads, laptops, TV screens, et cetera. And so because of that reason, I think this one is going to have even more demand than people think. And likely it's going to make even more money as well. So keep that in mind. This is also a health related degree, which tends to be extremely stable. So there are a lot of positives to going down this path. Number four on the list is going to be a DNP or doctor of nursing practice. And you would get this degree to become a doctorate level nurse practitioner. And last year about 3,500 people did graduate with this one. Now, this is actually one of my favorite careers. The only knock that I have on this one is you don't actually have to get a doctorate in order to become a nurse practitioner. You can do it with just a master's and the average nurse practitioner makes about $121,000 a year and you will likely make more if you have a doctorate. So I'm not going to get too deeply into it, but nurse practitioner great career can be a great option for the right person. Next one on the list, number three is going to be a farm D or a doctor of pharmacy. And you would get this degree in order to become a pharmacist. Now, this is the one that I personally got. And last year about 14,000 other people got this degree as well. And according to Glassdoor pharmacists make about $122,000 a year. So yeah, I'm biased on this one. It's the one that I chose. I'm very passionate about pharmacy and it does happen to be one of the highest paying degrees that you can get. But with that being said, don't go into it for the wrong reasons only go into pharmacy. If you have a passion for it, if it's something that you really love doing and you want to help people, I think this is one that a lot of people go into because first of all, you get a doctorate and that's nice, I guess they like that. And then second of all, you do make a lot of money. And then, you know, they go into it and they don't have any passion at all for it and they end up hating their job. So definitely check out my other videos where I've talked about pharmacy extensively and kind of like the pros and cons. Number two on the list is going to be a doctor of dental surgery or DDS and you would get this in order to become a dentist. Last year, about 6,300 people did graduate with this degree and you would expect to make a whopping $166,000 per year. Now, this is another professional level degree. So like most of these, it takes somewhere between six to eight years usually in order to get it. But yeah, $166,000 a year. That is amazing. But with that being said, there are some hidden downsides here. First of all, you do usually have to go pretty deep into debt in order to get this degree. And then on top of that, many people will end up going even further into debt because they end up taking out a loan in order to start a business. So just keep that in mind. But with that being said, you can make a ton of money as a dentist, even more money if you start your own business. It's the highest on the list except for the next one, which is of course, number one, getting a medical doctorate. So number one, I'm going to include MD as well as DO. MD is a medical doctorate. DO is a doctor of osteopathic medicine. And these are different right now. But in the next five to 10 years, they're actually planning on merging them. So they are going to be basically the same thing. It is slightly easier to get into DO school than it is to get into MD school. And MDs do tend to make a little bit more money than DOs. So keep that in mind. But other than that, they're basically the same thing. And according to Glassdoor, MDs on average make about $183,000 a year. Now there is one small catch here. On top of the eight total years that most people will have to do, you know, four years of undergrad, four years of medical school, you will also have to do a residency that's going to be somewhere between three and seven years if you want to become a traditional, you know, medical doctor. I also think that this is a great career, but it's also a little bit overrated. And the reason for that is because the media and everyone has just hyped this career up to the point where just about everybody wants to become a doctor. And the truth is, it's incredibly stressful and very difficult to become a doctor because of the fact that so many people want to get into it. I made an entire video about that kind of the downsides of becoming a doctor. You can check that out. I'll have it pop up on the screen. Check out my other videos right here. I made them just for you. Go ahead, gently tap that like button, hit the subscribe button, ring the notification bell, and comment down below any thoughts, comments, criticisms, et cetera that you have on the video. And I will see you next time.