Inside the college majors at elite universities where graduates earn more than $250,000—over 4 times their peers

With a challenging job market, mounting student loan debt, and warnings of further disruption from AI , more Gen Z college graduates are questioning whether the time and money spent earning a degree will pay off.

But new data points to some major exceptions, where graduates of certain degrees are earning median incomes well above $200,000.

Mathematics graduates from Duke University are bringing home median annual earnings of $297,029 four years post-grad, according to data analyzed by higher education research firm HEA Group, cited by The New York Times .

That’s nearly five times the $64,500 median earnings of graduates across all institutions—and a striking figure for a field that can lead to careers in finance, technology, and other lucrative industries. (function(){function e(){window.addEventListener(`message`,function(e){if(e.data[`datawrapper-height`]!==void 0){var t=document.querySelectorAll(`iframe`);for(var n in e.data[`datawrapper-height`])for(var r=0,i;i=t[r];r++)if(i.contentWindow===e.source){var a=e.data[`datawrapper-height`][n]+`px`;i.style.height=a}}})}e()})(); Carnegie Mellon University also had two programs among the highest earners.

Computer science graduates reported median earnings of $268,121, while those who studied electrical, electronics, and communications engineering earned $250,168.

The results reflect strong employer demand for graduates with technical expertise, said Burcu Akinci, dean of Carnegie Mellon’s college of engineering.

“The salaries of our graduates reflect the rapid pace of technological change and the demand for those prepared to lead it,” Akinci told Fortune .

“We educate systems thinkers who creatively solve complex engineering problems at the forefront of emerging technologies.” Big paychecks mask a tougher reality for many recent graduates In total, Carnegie Mellon had six programs whose graduates earned more than $150,000 annually—the most of any university on the list.

The school also offers a different admissions proposition than some of its elite peers: Its acceptance rate for the Class of 2029 was 11.1%, compared with rates below 5% at Duke and several Ivy League universities.

Still, the potential earnings come at a steep price.

At many top universities, the annual costs now exceeds $100,000 .

Carnegie Mellon’s total annual cost of attendance for on-campus students is somewhat lower, at about $94,000, but still represents a substantial investment for students and their families.

And as eye-popping as the earnings figures are, they represent a relatively small slice of higher education.

At Duke, for example, just 17 mathematics graduates made up the cohort behind the $297,029 median.