BETA
This is a BETA experience. You may opt-out by clicking here

More From Forbes

Edit Story

College Is Still Worth It, But Jobs And Pay Depend on Major

This article is more than 10 years old.

Yes, college is worth it, but when it comes to employment and earnings, not all college majors are created equal. That is the summary of a new study released by Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce.

The study, Hard Times: Not All College Majors Are Created Equal, published in January of 2012, offers valuable insight into the employment and earnings potential  of specific college majors.

The table to the left provides the unemployment rate and average earnings of recent college graduates in general categories of study. The report also breaks each of these categories into more specific majors, and that is important because some areas of the economy are still more depressed than others.

For example, someone well versed in math and the sciences may more easily find a job in healthcare or engineering, and choose that over being a math or science teacher because the initial and long-term earnings in the healthcare and engineering fields is higher than in education. Conversely, finding a job as an architect may be a real challenge, but if you can find one, the pay is pretty good.

The report says, “The risk of unemployment among recent college graduates depends on their major. The unemployment rate for recent graduates is highest in Architecture (13.9 percent) because of the collapse of the construction and home building industry in the recession. Unemployment rates are generally higher in non-technical majors, such as the Arts (11.1 percent), Humanities and Liberal Arts (9.4 percent), Social Science (8.9 percent) and Law and Public Policy (8.1 percent). “

Technical majors are experiencing good employment and good initial earnings, but both vary depending on the specific area of the major.

“Unemployment in majors related to computers and mathematics vary widely depending on the technical and scientific content of the major. Employers are still hiring technical computer specialists who can write software and invent new applications. But for information specialists who use software to manipulate, mine, and disseminate information, hiring slows down in recessions.  We can see the difference in unemployment between people who invent computer technology as opposed to people who use computer technology.”

“The unemployment rate for recent college graduates in Information Systems has spiked to 11.7 percent, while the rates for majors in Computer Science and Mathematics are 7.8 percent and 6.0 percent, respectively. “

Furthermore, "Majors that are more closely aligned with particular occupations and industries tend to experience lower unemployment rates. Majors such as Healthcare, Education and those related to technical occupations tend to have lower unemployment rates than more general majors, like Humanities and Liberal Arts, where graduates are broadly dispersed across occupations and industries. Unemployment rates for recent graduates in Healthcare and Education are 5.4 percent compared to 9.4 percent for people who majored in Humanities and the Liberal Arts.”

Okay, so is a liberal arts degree not that great for getting a job? Having sat with a bunch of college admissions counselors recently who were debating liberal arts degrees at a luncheon, I think the liberal arts purists would argue, despite the numbers, that students with a liberal arts degree are better prepared to adapt in the ever-changing workforce. A topic for another study perhaps, and there are more coming.

Tony Carnevale, the Director of the Center on Education and the Workforce, told me that they will be looking into healthcare as a specific industry, competencies required by occupation, the value of industry-based certificate programs, what is driving the increase in value of skills and the employability returns on higher education.

"Twenty five years ago the focus was just to get a college degree. Now it matters what you major in. And getting work experience and advanced degrees pay off in higher earnings throughout your career," said Carnevale.

Researchers Carnevale, Cheah and Strohl, who led this study, have decades of high level expertise in education, the economy and the workforce. The center's team is a who's who of those industries, and all Georgetown professors. Their work gives us some much needed information with which to consider college majors that have a greater likelihood of  a job waiting down the road that pays well. It also answers the big question.

“The question, as we slowly dig out from under the wreckage left by the Great Recession, is unavoidable: “Is college worth it?” Our answer: “Yes, extensive research, ours included, finds that a college degree is still worth it.” A Bachelor’s degree is one of the best weapons a job seeker can wield in the fight for employment and earnings. And staying on campus to earn a graduate degree provides safe shelter from the immediate economic storm, and will pay off with greater employability and earnings once the graduate enters the labor market."

Not everyone should go to college, but if college is right for you then YES, go to college, get some experience, and as you add advanced degrees, your employability and earnings will increase.

"Although differences remain high among majors, graduate education raises earnings across the board. The average earnings for BA’s now stands at $48,000 compared with $62,000 for graduate degrees. With the exception the Arts and Education, earnings for graduate workers range between $60,000 and $100,000."

Hard Times adds that, "It is easy to look at unemployment rates for new college graduates or hear stories about degree-holders forced to tend bar and question the wisdom of investing in higher education when times are bad. But those questions should last only until you compare how job seekers with college degrees are doing compared to those without college degrees."

Unemployment for students with new Bachelor’s degrees is 8.9 percent, 22.9 percent with a recent high school diploma—and almost 31.5 percent for high school dropouts.

Carnevale and team conclude, "Today’s best advice, then, is that high school students who can go on to college should do so— with one caveat. They should do their homework before picking a major because, when it comes to employment prospects and compensation, not all college degrees are created equal.”

Troy Onink is the CEO of Stratagee.com. Your Best Strategy to Pay for the Colleges That are the Best Fit