10 most profitable college majors and highest paying college degrees

Jennifer Larson uncovers the most and least profitable college majors, and the highest and lowest paying college degrees, in this two part series for Money College. Part Two runs next week, with the least profitable careers for your academic investment.

Unless you qualify for a full-ride scholarship or have incredibly-generous parents, you are likely spending a boatload on college. But as your high school teachers and college professors like to say, that's money you are going to get back if you choose your career wisely. Your education is an investment. So, like any investment, you should do your research if you want to cash in.

Here's Money College's list of the highest and lowest-paying college degrees, based on data gathered by Payscale.com. If you love numbers and science, you're in luck: "The kinds of majors where you learn to integrate mathematics and science with the everyday world have a tremendous benefit in terms of earnings potential," PayScale.com's Al Lee said.

Making money may not always be the biggest priority, in which case, go with your gut. You can always make billions of dollars, and give it all to charity.