Which college majors lead to the highest — and lowest — pay?

College students are encouraged to pursue their interests, ranging from aerospace engineering to theology. But those choices can have a profound impact on their job opportunities and career earnings, with some grads enjoying much higher incomes than others, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. 

It's no surprise that the top-earning college majors are in so-called STEM fields, or degrees in science, technology, engineering and math. The lowest-paying college majors are in areas such as theology, social services, the performing arts, education, and leisure and hospitality, the data shows. 

Some workers with majors correlated with higher pay could potentially outearn their classmates by hundreds of thousands of dollars in the two decades after graduation — an issue that may sway some students' decisions about their studies. Enrollment has plunged in some lower-earning majors such as education, where the number of bachelor's degrees has fallen 19% since 2000-01, according to the Pew Research Center.