The 15 Highest-Paying College Majors

With rising tuition costs and an unpredictable economy, choosing your college major is more important than ever. It could mean the difference between a big paycheck and career stability and having to wait tables.

Payscale's College Salary report, published Thursday, includes data on majors from more than 1.4 million college alumni from 1,016 schools.

Petroleum engineering takes the top spot for highest-paying majors among Bachelor's degree holders, with an average mid-career salary (based on full-time employment after 10 years) of $160,000. It's followed by actuarial mathematics at $120,000, and nuclear engineering at $117,000.

"The current economy is evolving to a more technological and analytical base," Katie Bardaro, lead economist at Payscale, tells Business Insider. "If you're trying to make an educational choice now, engineering and math are likely to have a long leg."

Below are the 15 college majors with the highest salary potential, according to Payscale:

1. Petroleum Engineering

Staring median salary: $103,000

Mid-career median salary: $160,000

2. Actuarial Mathematics:

Starting median salary: $58,700

Mid-career median salary: $120,0000

3. Nuclear Engineering

Starting median salary: $67,600

Mid-career median salary: $117,000

4. Chemical Engineering

Starting median salary: $68,200

Mid-career median salary: $115,000

5. Aerospace Engineering

Starting median salary: $62,800

Mid-career median salary: $109,000

6. Electrical Engineering

Starting median salary: $64,300

Mid-career median salary: $106,000

7. Computer Engineering

Starting median salary: $65,300

Mid-career median salary: $106,000

8. Computer Science

Starting median salary: $59,800

Mid-career median salary: $102,000

9. Physics

Starting median salary: $53,100

Mid-career median salary: $101,000

10. Mechanical Engineering

Starting median salary: $60,900

Mid-career median salary: $99,700

11. Materials Science and Engineering

Starting median salary: $62,700

Mid-career median salary: $99,500

12. Software Engineering

Starting median salary: $60,500

Mid-career median salary: $99,300

13. Statistics

Starting median salary: $52,500

Mid-career median salary: $98,900

14. Government

Starting median salary: $43,200

Mid-career median salary: $97,100

15. Economics

Starting median salary: $50,100

Mid-career median salary: $96,700