{"id":11138,"date":"2022-12-13T20:09:21","date_gmt":"2022-12-14T01:09:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/?p=11138"},"modified":"2022-12-13T20:09:23","modified_gmt":"2022-12-14T01:09:23","slug":"the-top-10-most-regretted-college-majors-and-the-degrees-graduates-wish-they-had-pursued-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/?p=11138","title":{"rendered":"The top 10 most-regretted college majors \u2014 and the degrees graduates wish they had pursued instead"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<ul><li>Between the sky-high cost and student loan burden, more students are taking a closer look at college&#8217;s return on investment.<\/li><li>When it comes to value, what you study may be the most important factor.<\/li><li>Graduates entering the workforce with good career prospects and high starting salaries are the most satisfied with their major, according to job site ZipRecruiter.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Even with college application season in full swing, many families are questioning whether a four-year degree is still worth it.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Some experts say the value of a bachelor&#8217;s degree\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/08\/09\/with-or-without-student-loan-forgiveness-college-still-costs-too-much.html\">is fading<\/a>\u00a0and more emphasis should be directed toward career training. A growing number of companies, including many in tech, are also\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/04\/25\/companies-eliminate-college-degree-requirement-to-draw-needed-workers.html\">dropping degree requirements<\/a>\u00a0for many middle-skill and even higher-skill roles.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However, earning a degree is almost always worthwhile, according to &#8220;The College Payoff,&#8221; a report from the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Bachelor&#8217;s degree holders generally earn 84% more than those with just a high school diploma, the report said \u2014 and the higher the level of educational attainment, the larger the payoff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>When broken down by areas of study, however, the difference is striking. Students who pursue a major specifically in science, technology, engineering and math \u2014 collectively known as STEM disciplines \u2014 are projected to&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2019\/04\/18\/new-college-grad-job-outlook-more-offers-higher-salaries.html\">earn the most overall<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In addition to STEM, health and business majors are among the highest-paying, leading to average annual wages that are higher at the entry level and significantly greater over the course of a career compared with liberal arts and humanities majors, the Georgetown Center found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><a>10 most-regretted majors: After graduation, &#8216;reality hits&#8217;<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Still, 44% of all job seekers with college degrees regret their field of study.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Journalism, sociology, communications and education all topped the list of most-regretted college majors, according to ZipRecruiter&#8217;s survey of more than 1,500 college graduates who were looking for a job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/image-cnbcfm-com.cdn.ampproject.org\/ii\/AW\/s\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/107150108-1668179956288-6CNLE-most-regretted-college-majors.png?v=1668179964\" alt=\"infographic\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Although students may be drawn to those fields while they&#8217;re in school for reasons beyond salary and job security, &#8220;when we graduate, reality hits,&#8221; said Sinem Buber, ZipRecruiter&#8217;s lead economist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>&#8220;When you are barely managing to pay your bills, your paycheck might become more important.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Of graduates who regretted their major, most said that, if they could go back, they would now choose computer science or business administration instead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2><a>Good prospects, higher pay means less regret<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>All in, the top-paying college majors earn&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/cew.georgetown.edu\/cew-reports\/valueofcollegemajors\/\">$3.4 million more<\/a>&nbsp;than the lowest-paying majors over a lifetime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Graduates entering the workforce with good career prospects and high starting salaries are the most satisfied with their field of study, job site ZipRecruiter also found.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img src=\"https:\/\/image-cnbcfm-com.cdn.ampproject.org\/ii\/AW\/s\/image.cnbcfm.com\/api\/v1\/image\/107150104-1668180004562-gzU03-least-regretted-college-majors.png?v=1668180025\" alt=\"infographic\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Computer science majors, with an average annual starting salary of almost&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/urldefense.com\/v3\/__https:\/t.nylas.com\/t1\/149\/bazk0hbcp7lzkdgn94sc3fn95\/0\/30d70c3a4b4f65ddd8efa4ed826521aef07dbfd1c5d63dd6d891ea550656209b__;!!PIZeeW5wscynRQ!vB1TsH7xESoe2xbqXWSdy_Hnfnp1bXjMIHjbn--QaAT8-yVrXdOnArzPoFk7xo6iOJuxoiAm1TkgmdnQ0VqrpGJK5zrrk90$\">$100,000<\/a>, were the happiest overall, according to ZipRecruiter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Students who majored in criminology, engineering, nursing, business and finance also felt very good about their choices.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Career outcome sets the tone, said Buber. &#8220;Pay is still most important,&#8221; she said, but &#8220;job security is now becoming more important. That happens whenever we have the fear of a recession.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Between the sky-high cost and student loan burden, more students are taking a closer look at college&#8217;s return on investment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[254,3421],"tags":[888],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11138"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=11138"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11138\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11139,"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11138\/revisions\/11139"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=11138"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=11138"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/blog.jlbn.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=11138"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}