Pharmacists, business school grads, industrial engineers, nurses and industrial equipment maintenance certificate holders have something in common in Georgia: their chosen field of study pays the highest for their level of education.

A new report from the Governor's Office of Student Achievement lays out the value, in terms of money, of higher education in Georgia at all levels, from professional  and master's degrees that take many years to obtain to the shorter-term certificates and associate's degrees.

The information comes from Georgia’s Academic and Workforce Analysis and Research Data System, or GA AWARDS, a system that tracks students from pre-k through college and into the workforce. The pay information is for the first five years of work after earning a degree.

The report was accompanied by a new website that allows a search for earnings by degree type, major and college. "The results should be seen as one piece of information that students and parents can use when making major and degree choices," the website says.

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Corbitt VanDuzer, 6, strikes a pose for her mother, teacher Kathryn VanDuzer, before her first day of first grade at Glennwood Elementary School in Decatur, Ga., on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. (Seeger Gray/AJC)

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Senate Majority Leader John Thune, R-S.D. (center) is flanked by GOP whip Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo. (left) and Finance Committee Chairman Mike Crapo, R-Idaho, as Thune speak to reporters at the Capitol in Washington on Tuesday, July 1, 2025. Earlier Tuesday, the Senate passed the budget reconciliation package of President Donald Trump's signature bill of big tax breaks and spending cuts. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP)

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