Picking a major is key to future earnings.

USA Today reports.

Picking your college major could mean big money

NASHVILLE — Tens of thousands of high school graduates across the state are enjoying a summertime victory lap before college, but for many of them an important, and potentially costly, decision is on the horizon.

Picking a major could have a bigger influence on their future earnings than deciding to go to college in the first place, according to a new study from Georgetown University.

Workers with college degrees earn an average of $1 million more than high school graduates over the course of their lifetimes, the study found. But the gap between the highest- and lowest-paying college majors is wider.

The study, released in May through Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce, used U.S. Census data to analyze wages for workers from 137 college majors.