Engineering is the most common degree among the world’s top billionaires, researchers say.

    More than a fifth of the 100 wealthiest people studied the subject, which accounts for twice as many billionaires’ university courses as the next most popular choice – business.

    The findings will add weight to calls for more youngsters to consider studying engineering, which has traditionally been seen as less popular than arts subjects.

    Last year, education charity Sutton Trust found those taking engineering can earn 55 percent — or US$11,935 — more than design and creative arts graduates six months after leaving university.

    The latest findings, by business-to-business buying platform Approved Index, found business degrees were the second most popular among the world’s wealthiest. Just 9 percent read an arts subject at university, 8 percent studied economics and 3 percent opted for finance.

    The university where the degree is studied can also have an impact on earnings. An Oxbridge education bumps up a starting salary by US$11,338, according to the Sutton Trust. A separate study found a degree from the London Business School is the most lucrative for British alumni.

    There are 2,325 billionaires in the world with a combined net worth of US$7.29 trillion.

    The latest research analyzed their education by examining Forbes magazine’s list of the 100 richest people in the world.

    However, the report suggests multimillionaires in the making might be better off starting out straight from school, as almost a third of those on the list do not have degrees.

    Microsoft founder Bill Gates, the wealthiest person in the world, dropped out of his studies at Harvard University.

    Mark Zuckerberg, creator of Facebook, also left his university before finishing his degree.

研究人员称，工程学学位是世界顶级亿万富豪中最常见的学位。

在一百个最富的人里，超过二十个人学了工程专业。这一比例是亿万富翁的第二热门选择 — 商务专业的两倍。

这一研究结果将让呼吁更多年轻人就读工程学的号召更有说服力。因为从传统上看，工程学没文科那么受欢迎。

去年，教育慈善机构萨顿信托基金会调查显示，毕业半年后，学工程学的毕业生比学习设计和创作艺术的毕业生多赚55%，即11935美元。

最新的调查结果由B2B交易平台Approved Index网站研究得出。结果显示，世界上最富有的人攻读的第二普遍专业是商务专业。

在大学里，仅有9%的富豪选泽了文科，8%选择了经济学和3%的人选择金融学。

学生们就读的大学也影响他们的工资。萨顿信托基金会的资料显示，牛津剑桥的学生起薪比普通大学毕业生高11338美元。另外一份调查表明，对英国毕业生而言，伦敦商学院的文凭最值钱。

全球现在有2325个亿万富翁，他们的资产净值达到7.29万亿美元。

最新的调查对福布斯富豪榜中前100名富豪的教育背景进行了分析。

但是，报告显示，那些花了好长时间而成为百万富翁的人如果在校就开始创业，那么他们可能会更加富裕。因为，在福布斯排行榜里，三分之一的人没有大学学位。

微软创始人比尔·盖茨是世界上最富有的

人，从哈佛大学辍学。

马克·扎克伯格创建了Facebook，也没完成学业就离开了大学校园。

Words to Learn 相关词汇

【选择】xuǎnzé opt for choose

【赚钱的】 zhuànqián de lucrative profitable, moneymaking