Student Choice has published the 2026 updated version of its study, ranking the most popular college degrees by return on investment after five years in the workforce. The team’s premise is timely as they examine a hot topic: the cost of higher education. The average cost of college now exceeds $43,000 per year, so entering the workforce with these student loans became a high-stakes game. The analysis pairs the top 25 majors in 2026, based on a previous Student Choice study, with earnings data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics to calculate how much a graduate earns in their first five years relative to their four-year tuition investment. They illustrated their findings by ranking 20 degree types compared to 40 common occupations.

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The team used a simple methodology. The average cost of college is $43,098 per year for a total investment of $172,392 for four years, with ROI calculated as median wages earned over five years divided by the four-year college cost. Majors that require advanced degrees like physical therapy, veterinary medicine, physician assistant, dentistry, and pharmacy were excluded from the ROI comparison even though these majors rank in the top 25.

Aviation tops the rankings chart, claiming the leading spot by a wide margin because of its astounding 574.3% ROI after five years, boosted by the median annual wage of $198,000. The field’s popularity is likely due to high pay and a looming pilot shortage as veteran airline workers retire. Engineering and computer science tied for second place at 290% each with median wages of $100,000 a year.

Healthcare and quantitative fields round out the upper tier. Nursing ranks fourth with an ROI of 272.6%, followed by math at 249.4% and accounting at 237.8%. Business, political science, architecture, and biology all tie for eighth at 217.5%, based on a $75,000 median wage. Education and social sciences sit near the bottom of the list at 159.5%, and fine arts at the bottom at 145%.

The study’s most helpful section might be the table that shows how career choice within a major can dramatically outperform the degree’s baseline. Aviation graduates who became airline pilots, copilots, or flight engineers reached a 652.7% return on a median wage of $226,600. Computer and information systems managers hit 496.5%, financial managers reached 469%, and public relations and fundraising managers reached 385.4%. Even lower-ranked majors can have exceptions. For example, fine arts majors who become art directors have a 322.1% return with a median salary of $111,040. Math majors working as actuaries earn 364.8%.

Overall, though, this study shows us that getting a degree pays off. Even accounting for student debt, the data suggests that degrees can double or triple the initial investment within five years. While most people will work for about four decades after student life, the returns will continue to compound. There is a growing preference for specialized, career-focused degrees with clear pathways into established professions so students can enjoy the ROIs we see here.

The invisible digital infrastructure is all around us. It powers every bank login, online order, every text sent, and every social media update posted. Vast networks that many of us rarely think about make these actions possible. Access to the digital infrastructure shapes a population’s economic standing and it even keeps entire governments running smoothly. Therefore, it’s no surprise that some countries spend huge sums to stay competitive in the digital infrastructure sector and there are clear winners as we can see in Ooma’s new study.

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Think of this way: rather than roads and bridges, broadband networks, data centers, and cloud systems, the key to mobile connectivity is a country’s most valuable asset, which powers AI servers and social media. Advanced digital infrastructure correlates with higher GDP growth, higher productivity, a viable remote workforce, and a more digitally skilled workforce. These systems also allow faster access to government services, which can even be lifesaving since they offer quicker communication during emergencies like natural disasters.

The team’s study found 5 countries leading this digital infrastructure race. Sweden is in first place now with strong assets across the board, led by broadband subscriptions and business R&D spending. Israel is in second place with outsized venture capital relative to their GDP and heavy research funding into digital infrastructure. South Korea is in third, powered by ICT patents and top-tier broadband reach. Believe it or not, Estonia edges out the U.S. in fourth place. They’re a global digital pioneer with the most ICT investment as a share of GDP. The U.S. ranks #5, driven by digitally deliverable services and venture capital. The team used a points-based score across seven OECD measures, which include ICT investment, broadband, venture capital investment, M2M SIM cards, ICT patents, digital services trade, and business R&D.

These investments have a number of real-world impacts. In Estonia, they have nearly all their government services available online and a digital ID that can be used for everything from remote voting to public transport. Sweden has a highly developed e-commerce sector, universal household Internet connectivity, and, as a result, Stockholm is Europe’s financial hub. In Israel, the National Digital Agency and the Digital Israel initiative weave tech across education, government, and healthcare, transforming the country into a startup magnet. South Korea has one of the fastest Internet speeds globally and they dominate consumer electronics, competitive gaming, and semiconductors.

Countries investing in digital infrastructure are positioned to be world superpowers. Businesses in these countries benefit from fast communication and a digitally literate workforce. But seamless connectivity shouldn’t depend on geography. Every country and all people can benefit from a more digitally connected world, so the more countries that improve their digital infrastructure, the better. The leading countries on this chart can serve as role models while countries further down the list highlight areas for improvement and potential investment.

Compatibility is usually our biggest driver in the search for a romantic partner, but it turns out that age is still a major part of that compatibility. Tawkify’s matchmaking service surveyed about 98,798 Americans over two years, asking whether they’d date someone older and younger and how far outside their own age range they’d go. The data reveal both geographic and dating patterns, with a recurring pattern: smaller dating pools push singles to date across wider age ranges.

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Wyoming tops the list of states with men willing to date outside their age range. 71.1% of Wyoming singles are willing to date an average of 11.22 years older than they are. North Dakota and Alaska also appeared in the top three. Delaware emerged as an interesting outlier. They have the largest average age gap in dating among men, at 11.26 years. 93.1% of Alaskan women are open to dating older partners, and they have the nation’s largest age gap by far at 20.57 years. West Virginia and Wyoming women follow in second and third. It seems that less-populated states show greater willingness to date outside their age range, which could be a very simple explanation. A smaller dating pool means singles widening their options.

As for willingness to date younger partners, Hawaii leads for both genders. 96.8% of Hawaiian men are willing to date someone younger, with 18.59 years as an acceptable age gap. This is the widest that appears in the study. 92% of Hawaiian women are open to dating younger, but their average age gap is only 9 years. Hawaii has an older-than-average population, with a median age of 41.5 years, so this limited island dating pool makes dating younger people more common. The runners-up for willingness to date younger were Nevada, Idaho, and Maine.

According to the data, women are dramatically more open to dating older than men are. 95% of women would date an older partner, compared with 65.7% of men. This pattern flips with dating younger. 96.5% of men would date someone much younger, with a national average age difference of 14.7 years. 88.1% of women would date younger men, but at a much smaller average age gap of 7.14 years. This shows that across the country, men tend to date younger partners, while women tend to date older partners. Women are consistently willing to tolerate a wider gap when dating up.

The team threw us a little fun fact from the Guinness Book of World Records, which lists Gertrude and John Janeway, married in 1927, as the largest spousal age gap of 63 years. Age-gap relationships can succeed but face challenges like judgment and assumptions about power dynamics and differing life stages. Strong communication, shared values, and aligned goals matter most in relationships, more than the number of years lived. Geography and gender seem to shape who Americans date, but the data also suggest that openness to age-gap romances often comes down to opportunity.