Investing money and time in a college education, especially as an adult learner, needs to come with a payoff. There’s obviously the personal satisfaction of finally having that hard-earned college degree. And yes, you want to choose a career you love. That career, though, can be even more valuable when it is in a field with available jobs that pay well. That’s why researching wages and unemployment rates can be critical you’re considering career choices and college degrees.

Median earnings among recent college graduates vary from $30,000 in the arts, psychology, and social work to $55,000 among engineering majors, according to a January 2012 report by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce.

Unemployment has started to come down but rates remain high, at 8.9 percent for recent graduates with bachelor’s degrees. But you’re still better off with a college degree than with a high school diploma, where unemployment is at a “catastrophic” 22.9 percent, according to the report “Hard Times: College Majors, Unemployment and Earnings: Not All College Degrees Are Created Equal.” Here’s another telling fact from the report:

“More than 60 percent of these recent college graduates who are working have landed in the healthcare, professional contracting businesses, or education sectors.”

So what majors have the highest and lowest unemployment rates among recent grads? The study says …

Highest

Architecture: 13.9 percent

Arts: 11.1 percent

Humanities and liberal arts: 9.4 percent

Social science: 8.9 percent

Computers and mathematics: 8.2 percent

Law and public policy: 8.1 percent

Lowest

Healthcare and education: 5.4 percent each

Agricultural and natural resources: 7 percent

Psychology and social work: 7.3 percent

Communications and journalism: 7.3 percent

Business: 7.4

Engineering: 7.5

Life and physical sciences: 7.7 percent

How do these stats impact your thoughts about career fields and degrees? Let us know in the comments section below.