Speaking from a student's perspective, I am not basing what I plan to study in college on the salaries that profession makes. Those of us who want to be in academia are usually not the same people who pay a lot of attention to money. I do not want to study economics to make money, but to study economics. Also, people who have studied a subject for four years and realize it pays peanuts are probably unwilling to change majors, because a low-paying degree is better than no degree at all. Institutions might pay higher than market wages for some professions to convince people that it is a viable career, and so attract people into their programs. Once they are into them, they will be unwilling to change, etc.
Brian Keith
