College Majors That Graduates Regret Pursuing
When it comes to regrets – it’s no secret that we all have them. We all have chapters we wish we could edit.
Ever wondered how many college grads wish they could hit the rewind button on their education? USA Today recently shared some interesting statistics from the Federal Reserve report, highlighting which college majors tended to be highest and lowest on the list of regrets for a large group of 11,400 grads.
At the top of the list, we have the social and behavioral sciences degrees, with 44% of grads wishing they had chosen something else. Next, we have both humanities/arts and life sciences, each at 43%, Law at 41% and Education at 38% on the regret scale.
Though these grads wish they hadn’t chosen the majors they did; they don’t seem to regret getting their education as a whole. When you ask millennials (30–44-year-olds), a good 55% of them with bachelor’s degrees and 66% with degrees beyond bachelors say that getting their degree overall was worth it.
Time has a knack for turning past investments into golden memories. As you look at those age 60 and up, they say their degree was even more worth it. A good 75% with bachelor’s degrees find the experience worth it and 86% of those with degrees beyond bachelors find their experience worth it.
Overall, a good 35% of grads said they’d pick another major if given the chance.
What exactly is it worth in terms of USD these days? Well, it’s probably not a surprise to most that tuition has doubled since the year 2000. A year of college in the U.S. costs $38,270 a year, on average, according to the Education Data Initiative
How much does income have to do with these regrets? Based on the numbers, it looks like the answer is “a ton.”
The least regretted majors are the majors that have proved the most profitable, including the STEM fields that just keep increasing in popularity. Of those in Engineering only 27% had regrets and just 31% in Computer and Information Sciences. Of the Healthcare majors, under a third – 32% – had regrets.
Electrical engineers earn $117,680 annually on average according to federal data. Software developers bring in an average of $138,110 a year and Nurse practitioners earn $128,490.
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