High-Paying Careers For People With Notoriously Low-Paying Degrees

College graduates these days face an average debt of $25,000 and a shaky job market.

It may seem like a finance or medical degree is the only good option in this scenario, but we're a little more optimistic.

Even if you have a degree in one of PayScale's lowest-paying college majors, it is possible to find a career that pays surprisingly well. In most cases, these aren't careers that happen over night, and many will require years of experience and working your way up through the ranks. The point is that a low-starting salary alone shouldn't deter you from pursuing a certain degree or career path –– it's what you do with it that counts. 

Education

a daydream away

Education degree-holders start out making a median salary of  $34,900 and only get bumped up

 to $55,0000 by mid-career. 

Here are three education jobs that pay more down the road: 

Employee / Human Resources: $75,600

Instructional Designer: $63,000

Executive Director, Non-Profit Organization: $62,600

Art History

Art history majors earn a dismal $35,800 starting out and $54,000 mid-way

 through their careers. You can earn way more by thinking beyond the paint brush. 

Here are three jobs in art that pay better:

Directors of Development for non-profit organizations: $69,800 (mid-career)

Museum Art History Curators: $59,400 (mid-career)

Multimedia Artist: $69,560