It seems like a strange methodology to get at what's an obvious truism. Berea college (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berea_College) is very atypical. It's a small school, with a mission of helping poor Appalachian students get an education. 100% of the students are on scholarship. 100% have paid jobs while in school.
It's hard to extrapolate from this to a national poll. It would be better to include Penn State, Michigan and University of Texas to understand national trends.
That said, this is a truism. The fields pay well because they are hard enough to scare away many students, and they have good jobs. Other fields are difficult too (say Philosophy?) but they don't have good jobs on the other side so people are less tempted.
It's hard to extrapolate from this to a national poll. It would be better to include Penn State, Michigan and University of Texas to understand national trends.
That said, this is a truism. The fields pay well because they are hard enough to scare away many students, and they have good jobs. Other fields are difficult too (say Philosophy?) but they don't have good jobs on the other side so people are less tempted.