The value of higher education is being questioned as more college graduates enter the workforce with heavy debt and low-salary employment.
Employers have even expressed concerns about the limited value of college degrees in terms of employee worth, ethics, and talent, but some college degrees also provide higher returns on investment than others.
College degrees with higher returns
According to a new survey by UTS, the top college majors for landing a job after college include Medical Technicians, Industrial Engineering, Construction Services, General Social Sciences, General Education, Nursing, Elementary Education, Secondary Education, Mechanical Engineering, and Animal and Plant Sciences.
Industrial engineering had the lowest unemployment rate, with just 0.2% of the graduates being unemployed and just 16% of the graduates regretting their major decision. “Majors with the lowest unemployment rates, such as Industrial Engineering, Medical Technicians, and Construction Services, are usually fields with clear career paths and high demand for specific skills,” according to Bryan Driscoll, an HR consultant.
“This demand is driven by the essential nature of these nature of these natures of these professions and their direct and critical infrastructure and health care, sectors that continue to grow, and innovate.” Construction and medical technicians were tied at a 0.4% unemployment rate. Those who majored in general social sciences had an employment rate of 0.6%, making it the third college major with the lowest unemployment rate.
Despite this, many graduates regretted their major, with 29% indicating they should pursue a different career path. Meanwhile, degrees with the highest levels of regret tended to be in the arts, with art history, fine arts, and liberal arts among some of the majors with the highest unemployment rates.
Driscoll explained that the current job market promotes STEM fields. “The most regretted majors like English, foreign languages, and certain social sciences often face criticism of being ‘impractical’ or offering ‘limited job opportunities,” Driscoll added. “This sentiment is largely a reflection of our capitalist society’s devaluation of humanities and social sciences, things that aren’t directly and immediately profitable.”
Art history majors had the highest unemployment rate, about 8%, and 25% of graduates regretted their major choice. The high level of regret is most likely due to the intense rivalry in the art sector and the need for further degrees to obtain top positions.
Liberal arts and fine arts majors had a very similar unemployment rate of 7.9%, and around the same percentage expressed dissatisfaction with their majors looking back. History majors saw a 7.5% unemployment rate, and 29% regretted taking it as their major. That was nothing compared to an astonishing 42% of English Language graduates in the United States regretting their choice of major.
Attending college still increases your chances of landing a higher-paying job, with bachelor’s degree graduates earning 80% more than high school graduates, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Driscoll states, “Our education system and the job market prioritize immediate economic returns over the holistic development of an individual intellectual and critical thinking skills .” “Fields like English and Philosophy are essential for fostering critical for essential for fostering critical though, creativity, and a deeper understanding of human condition, skills that are crucial but often underappreciated in a profit-driven job market.”
