If you look at that starting salary statistic carefully, although finance is not in the top five in starting salary, you see that the salary growth percentage from 2005 to 2006 was a +11%. That is twice as high as any other job. If you have a finance degree with some accounting coursework done, and lets say a year or two of financial services experience, (work and internships) there are a lot of options in entry level right now. So, my observation is that a finance degree with good accounting knowledge and a 1-2 yrs of relevant experience gives you a lot of flexibility right now. I also think that the financial industry is in great need of finance people who have good accounting knowledge, as regualtions get tougher, making deals and investments get more complicated and technical.