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Career Options

Careers for Mathematics Majors

  • Actuary
  • Teacher/Professor
  • Software Engineer/Developer/Programmer
  • Computer Programmer
  • Urban Designer
  • Stockbroker
  • Research Scientist
  • Public Utilities Analyst
  • Population Ecologist
  • Foreign Exchange Trader
  • Statistician
  • Air Traffic Controller
  • Climate Analyst
  • Pollster
  • Forensic Analyst
  • Banker
  • Underwriter
  • Technical Writer

Starting Salary*

A mathematics major’s typical starting salary is $45,272. The typical salary after 10-19 years is $84,866.

*Note: Salary information is provided for general reference only. APU does not guarantee the accuracy of the figures listed, and cannot predict or promise a specific salary for any graduate. For the most current salary estimates, please visit www.payscale.com.

Job Titles Held by Former Mathematics Majors

  • Portfolio Manager, Barclays Global Investors
  • Options Trader, Peak6
  • Math Educator, Assessment Technology
  • Simulation Specialist, Raytheon Missile Systems
  • Director of Information and Technical Services, Kansas Electric Power Cooperative
  • Program Analyst, Census Bureau
  • Director of Institutional Retirement Plans, CPS & Associates Investment Advisors
  • Computer Consultant, IET Company
  • Health Physicist, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission
  • Statistician (Medicine), U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases
  • Senior Actuarial Associate, Manulife Financial
  • Major, United States Air Force, United States Strategic Command
  • Deputy Director, Division of Math Sciences, National Science Foundation

Famous People with Mathematics Degrees

  • J. P. Morgan (banking, steel, and railroad tycoon)
  • Larry Niven (science fiction writer)
  • Carl Rowan (nationally syndicated columnist)
  • Lewis Carroll (author of Alice in Wonderland)
  • Florence Nightingale (nursing pioneer, the inventor of the pie chart, first to apply statistics to public health)
  • Ralph Abernathy (civil rights leader)
  • William J. Perry (former Secretary of Defense)
  • Harry Blackmun (retired Supreme Court Justice)
  • Teri Hatcher (actor)
  • Alan Touring (mathematician, the father of computer science, cracked Nazi navel transmission codes during World War II)
  • Albert Einstein (scientist)
Note: This information is current for the 2009-10 academic year; however, all stated academic information is subject to change. Please refer to the current Academic Catalog for the most current and controlling information. For additional information, please contact the appropriate office.