The worth of a college degree can vary widely across Alabama schools and majors – at least in terms of post-graduate salaries.

Often, master’s degrees are required for professional certification or to advance in a career.

Read more: Students at this Alabama college go on to earn the most money, according to these two rankings

Auburn University hosts one of three Alabama master’s programs that saw graduates earning more than six figures after their first year of holding an advanced degree.

Meanwhile, some of the state’s lowest-earning programs reported median salaries as low as $11,817 for bachelor’s graduates, and $14,222 for master’s graduates one year out of college.

AL.com analyzed pre-pandemic earnings data for college graduates one, two and three years after earning a degree. The scorecard matched up 2018 and 2019 earnings data from the national treasury, which surveyed alumni who graduated in 2015 through 2018.

The numbers are adjusted to 2020 dollars and, for privacy reasons, don’t include earnings data from smaller programs. They also only measure earnings of graduates who received some amount of federal aid while in school, are working and are not currently enrolled in another degree program.

Top median earnings by degree programs and fields of study

Alabama master’s degree graduates earned an average median salary of $55,290 straight after graduating, while graduates of two-year programs earned an average median salary of $35,898 one year out of college.

Across degree levels, engineering, business and medical programs topped earnings charts for new graduates.

Among master’s programs, business administration and health diagnostics degrees reported median salaries higher than $100,000.

Mental health, education and biology master’s programs were more likely to produce lower-earning graduates, while some liberal and fine arts programs reported lower salaries among associate’s and bachelor’s graduates.

The numbers don’t account for graduates who are currently unemployed, which varied among programs, or those who go back to school.

Top-earning Alabama master’s programs, one year after graduation:

• Auburn University – Business Administration, Management and Operations: $106,330
• University of South Alabama – Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions: $101,131
• University of Alabama in Huntsville – Computer/Information Technology Administration and Management: $100,269
• University of Alabama at Birmingham – Allied Health Diagnostic, Intervention, and Treatment Professions: $98,582
• Samford University – Registered Nursing, Nursing Administration, Nursing Research and Clinical Nursing: $97,811

Search your school and program below to see how much alumni made one year after graduation. (Can’t see the chart? View it here.)