Navigating College Majors: Is an English Degree a Risky Choice?

Choosing a college major is a pivotal decision with significant implications for your future. While academic interests and career aspirations often guide this choice, it's wise to consider the potential challenges some majors might present in the professional world. This article explores the concept of a "bad" major, examining factors like earning potential, unemployment rates, and overall value, with a specific focus on English degrees.

Defining a "Bad" Major

It's important to define what makes a major "bad." This assessment often relies on data related to employment and income. However, it's essential to remember that these are broad statistics and may not reflect every individual's experience.

Examining Majors with Employment Challenges

Some majors correlate with higher unemployment rates among recent graduates. Data from the Federal Reserve Bank of New York (2021) provides insights into this area. While specific unemployment rates for English majors aren't provided in the source data, it's worth noting that liberal arts majors, including English, may face challenges in directly translating their degree into specific job roles.

Considering Earning Potential

Earning potential is a significant concern for many students. The NY Fed data also sheds light on the lowest-value majors in terms of salary for individuals aged 22-27 with bachelor's degrees. Again, specific data for English majors is not provided, but it's an area to consider when evaluating career prospects.

The Value of an English Degree

The question of whether an English degree is a "bad" choice is complex. The definition of "worst" majors is limited to specific data points, and broad statistics won't necessarily apply to everyone. However, that doesn't mean you're doomed to professional failure. An English major is fairly flexible or broad in scope, such as liberal arts.

Factors Influencing Career Success

Several factors beyond the choice of major influence career success:

Further Education: A graduate degree might lead to an increase in salary and a decrease in the chance of staying unemployed. This won't apply to every major, but you might want to look into whether a graduate degree (either a master's, professional degree, or doctorate) is all but required for a job in a particular field.
Work Experience: Many employers will view your past employment history as more important than your college major anyway, especially as you get older.
Networking and Mentorship: Talking to people working in fields you're interested in can provide valuable insights. Are they working in the same field, or are they doing something different? Are they happy with what they're earning? Keep in mind that any information you get is anecdotal evidence, so take it with a grain of salt!
Career Counseling: You can often schedule a meeting with a counselor through your school's career center. They can speak with you more about possible career options based on your major, interests, and strengths.

What to Do if You're Considering an English Major

If you're interested in an English major, it's crucial to think carefully and critically about your career prospects. Here's what you should do:

Consider a Second Major or Minor: As far as salary is concerned after graduation, English majors have to work a bit harder to ensure they have a steady source of income. Consider choosing a second major or a minor that cultivates a marketable skill.
Gain Relevant Experience: If you wish to pursue a literary career, use summers and your time outside of class to distinguish yourself with internships and publications.
Explore Graduate School: Would it pay off to look into grad school?

Broader Trends in Higher Education

The value of a four-year degree is increasingly questioned, with nearly half of Americans believing it's less important for securing a well-paying job than it was two decades ago. Major companies like Apple, IBM, and Hilton have eliminated degree requirements for many roles, opting instead to evaluate candidates based on their experience and practical skills. A 2022 study by the Burning Glass Institute revealed that millions of job postings have dropped bachelor’s degree requirements, and a 2020 analysis found a similar trend for positions like production supervisors. These shifts signal a growing recognition that a general college education often fails to deliver the specific competencies employers need today.

Pew’s survey also found that more than half of college graduates are underemployed, working in roles that neither require a degree nor utilize the knowledge they paid the universities to acquire. Even a decade after graduation, 45% remain in such positions.

Experts predict this trend will continue, with alternative credentials, certifications, and hands-on training gaining more relevance. By 2031, while most jobs will demand some form of postsecondary education, that doesn’t necessarily mean a bachelor’s degree, and for many careers, it may no longer be the smartest path.

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Degrees Losing Relevance

With over a decade of experience in higher education as a professor and staff member, some degrees often fell short of providing job-ready value unless supplemented with practical, hands-on skills.

General Liberal Arts (With No Clear Direction): Philosophy, history, and English sound noble, but unless you pair them with a strong second major or a clear plan like teaching, they often leave graduates directionless. The biggest gaps are digital fluency and job-specific training. Most liberal arts programs don’t cover the tools modern workplaces run on, like Excel, SQL, project management platforms, or basic marketing and analytics software.

Degrees That Are Working Now

Tarver has held leadership positions in his 28 years in higher education, including director of career services at a university. He continues to explain, “Specialized degrees tend to provide students with direct preparation for their field, as the tangible knowledge and experience required is typically built into the curriculum. When pursuing generic [liberal arts] degrees however, the degree alone is not sufficient enough to stand out. It is imperative that a liberal arts degree be bundled with experiential learning opportunities that will enhance students’ employability prospects while also allowing them to gain invaluable insights and skills that can set them apart in their chosen fields. In this way, the journey through higher education transforms from mere academic achievement into a powerful tool for shaping futures.”

Least Popular Majors

Some the most common majors among recently graduated undergraduate students include business, health related programs, and engineering. But what about uncommon majors? Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics, Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS) for 2021-2022, we’ve put together a list of 10 of the least popular majors.

Niche interest areas: Some areas of study only appeal to a select number of students with specific interests.
Emerging fields: Some majors are new, such as Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Limited offer: There are majors that require significant resources, specialized equipment, or access to certain locations. Not all colleges will be able to meet these demands, so the area of study is less common as a result.

Factors to Consider When Choosing a Major

For incoming undergraduate students, choosing a major can be overwhelming. That’s because your field of study will have meaningful consequences for your future life. Choosing the right major can open the door to engaging work that pays a living wage (or more). It might relieve some of your stress to know the important factors to consider when choosing your major, to be familiar with the most challenging and least challenging undergraduate majors, and to remember that your major choice isn’t binding yet.

Interest: Does the work interest me? You will have a much harder time securing good grades and retaining concepts if you are pursuing a major that does not interest you.
Aptitude: Do I have natural talent in this field? Everyone’s brain is wired a little differently. It follows that certain subjects will be easier for certain students. That being said, natural talent is not a prerequisite for pursuing a given major. In fact, many leaders in their field report initial setbacks that they had to work hard to overcome.
Workload: How much time do I want to spend studying? Realistically, academic coursework is not every student’s top priority. One of the best parts of college is making lifelong friendships. Another is exploring your interests through clubs and internships.
Career Options: What career options will be available to me after graduating? Too often we see students treat their undergraduate years as being completely unrelated to what they will do after school. Then, when they find certain career paths are closed to them, they become disappointed.
Financial Prospects: What are my financial prospects with this major? Even if your goal is not to become a millionaire, keeping an eye on finances will save you from a lot of heartache in the long run. If you are split between two majors, consider using return on investment (ROI) as your tie-breaker. If you want to go into a less lucrative field, that’s okay!

Declaring Your Major

When you apply to different universities, you will probably be asked for your intended major. In general, your intended major is exactly what it sounds like: an intention to study a discipline, not something set in stone. Students who are unsure about their major might take their elective courses in diverse fields when trying to come to a conclusion about their desired field of study. On the other hand, if you change your major too late, you may delay your graduation, so it is important to plan as you explore.

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However, there are certain instances where an intended major may affect college chances. Additionally, some large public universities (like those in the UC system) have specific numbers of students that they will accept for each major program. Simply put, if your intended major has an impact on admissions, the impact will be very small.

Hardest and Easiest Majors

To help you start thinking about which major is best for you, we put together a ranked list of the ten hardest majors. In these listings, you’ll notice the statistic, 20-year ROI. A 20-year ROI is the difference between the 20-year median pay for a graduate with a bachelor’s degree in the listed major and the 24-year median pay for an individual with only a high school diploma, minus the total 4-year cost of obtaining a bachelor’s degree. This list is by no means exhaustive, and your list of hardest majors likely would be different than ours.

We have put together our list of top easiest majors based on three factors: GPA, weekly study hours, and return on investment. Keep in mind that your factors may be different! If you love language and literature, majoring in English is a great way to gain exposure to strong writing. As far as salary is concerned after graduation, English majors have to work a bit harder to ensure they have a steady source of income.

tags: #least #useful #college #majors #English