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Business & finance

Financial examiners

Typically requires Bachelor's degree

What is this page & how do I use it?

This is a research report for one career — the kind an analyst would write for a stock. The rating at the top is the neutral baseline (same for everyone); below it come the cases for and against, how the last official forecast for this career actually aged, and what the education path costs and pays.

How to use it: read the bulls-vs-bears case, then hit Score this career to weigh it against your other options with your own interests factored in.

CareerStar rating
MixedMedium uncertainty
top 5% of all 730 careers

Analyst take: Strong market prospects — +18.5% projected growth, moderate AI exposure (50/100).

64
/ 100
low riskhigh
top row = high reward

Moat (borrowed from investing — the water that defends a castle): how shielded this career is from AI. None = broadly exposed — many of its tasks are automatable and its skills are widely shared. (Exposure ≠ job loss; see the bears below.)

The small grid is a style box (borrowed from Morningstar’s fund reports): the blue square places this career on reward (top row = high) versus risk (left column = low), against all 730 careers. Medium uncertainty means the score leans partly on forward-looking bets like AI exposure, so treat the exact number loosely.

🐂 Bulls say
  • +Strong projected growth — outpaces 98% of careers (+18.5%).
  • +High pay — above 81% of careers ($90,400).
🐻 Bears say
  • Its softest spot: it carries some AI exposure (50% of tasks).
📜 Reality check — how the last forecast for this career fared

In 2014, the U.S. government projected +9.9% growth for this career by 2024. What actually happened: +70.4%. Reality beat the forecast — a reminder that every number on this page is an estimate, and this is how the last one aged. Full back-test →

Was this rating fair?
Projected growth
+18.5%
Median pay
$90,400
AI exposure
50/100
share of tasks exposed to AI — not job loss

Education & ROI — how to get here

Real outcomes for the college majors that feed this occupation, across 2,492 bachelor’s programs.

Median earnings
$39,389
1 year after graduating
Typical debt
$26,000
median federal debt
Pay-to-debt
1.5×
first-year pay ÷ debt
Feeder majors
Security and Loss Prevention ServicesAccounting and Related ServicesGeospatial IntelligenceTaxation
Selective schools offering these majors
Northeastern University
MA · 5% admit rate
$84,641/yr
$92,538 grad pay
University of Pennsylvania
PA · 5% admit rate
$89,028/yr
$111,371 grad pay
Claremont McKenna College
CA · 10% admit rate
$86,500/yr
$104,736 grad pay
University of Southern California
CA · 10% admit rate
$90,300/yr
$92,498 grad pay
Emory University
GA · 11% admit rate
$83,622/yr
$80,137 grad pay
Boston University
MA · 11% admit rate
$86,285/yr
$83,238 grad pay

Earnings & debt from the U.S. Dept. of Education College Scorecard; majors mapped to this occupation via the NCES CIP→SOC crosswalk. A grounded ROI snapshot, not a guarantee — pay varies widely by school and specialty.

What this work involves

businessfinanceanalysisdetail