Over the arc of a career, humanities and social science graduates earn as much or more than those in professional fields, new study shows, and are equally employed. Liberal arts majors may start off slower than others when it comes to the postgraduate career path, but they close much of the salary and unemployment gap over time, a new report shows. By their mids, liberal arts majors with an advanced or undergraduate degree are on average making more money those who studied in professional and pre-professional fields, and are employed at similar rates. Humphreys and her co-author, Patrick Kelly, a senior associate at NCHEMS, looked at long-term career path and salary data as an answer to the many short-term studies on recent graduates that have fueled the assertion that liberal arts graduates are disproportionately un- or underemployed. And while 5. Though they come close, liberal arts graduates never quite close the unemployment gap between themselves and professional or pre-professional graduates, whose rate drops from 4. Part of the salary difference may be explained by another finding that the report authors highlight: liberal arts graduates are far more likely to wind up on lower-paying — if no less important — career paths. Employers consistently say they want to hire people who have a broad knowledge base and can work together to solve problems, debate, communicate and think critically, the report notes — all skills that liberal arts programs aggressively, and perhaps uniquely, strive to teach.
Best Future Jobs for Liberal Arts Majors
The Economic Value of College Majors uses Census Data to analyze wages for college majors to detail the most popular college majors, the majors that are most likely to lead to an advanced degree, and the economic benefit of earning an advanced degree by undergraduate major. Two of the top highest paying majors, STEM and business are also the most popular majors, accounting for 46 percent of college graduates. Explore the Data The interactive web tool below allows the user to see how much college graduates earn by 15 major groups and detailed major subgroups nationally and within states. State data is available only on the interactive tool below. We found that among college graduates with the same majors, earnings vary by state. For example, business is the most common major, accounting for 26 percent of college graduates. Take a Tour. Anthony P. In the video Dr. Carnevale provides advice and highlights key factors from the report. Laura is worried picking a History major may lead to low earnings but Tony assures her, that is not the case. Watch the video to learn how History majors can earn more than the average business major and much more! Infographic Discover the key statistics in our report pertaining to college majors and earnings in this infographic. The importance of a major is powerful. We found that the highest-paid majors were among the STEM science, technology, engineering, and math fields, and the lowest earning majors were with early childhood education and human services and community organization. The full report includes a more detailed analysis of the popularity of majors and educational and labor market outcomes by major. Click here. Jobs, Skills and People are the three core areas of our research. Learn More. Facebook Twitter Slideshare GU. Key Findings. Explore the PowerPoint. Discover the key statistics in our report pertaining to college majors and earnings in this infographic. Full Report The importance of a major is powerful. Read the Report. Read the Executive Summary.
Yes, engineers earn more, but that doesn’t mean you should talk yourself out of a liberal arts degree.
If you majored in liberal arts, odds are you’ve heard your fair share of jokes at your professional expense. But choosing to study liberal arts subjects, defined traditionally as language, history, philosophy, literature and abstract science, doesn’t mean you’re doomed to a life of underemployment. What you chose to study does, of course, have a huge impact on your earnings later in life, but it doesn’t have to define you or pigeonhole you in a certain role. CNBC Make It analyzed occupational data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to find jobs that pay a premium for liberal arts grads’ skills and require a bachelor’s degree to obtain. Liberal arts grads are highly adaptable, and research from The Hamilton Project found that liberal arts majors transition into a surprising variety of occupations, holding a more diverse range of jobs than most other majors’ students did. Adaptability and soft skills can be huge assets for liberal arts majors, if they know which industries to join. Commonly found in non-profit or advocacy organizations, these workers plan and oversee campaigns and events aimed at raising money and other kinds of donations. Most employers want strong communication and organization skills in new hires, according to the BLS. To become a public school teacher, you’ll need to be licensed or certified in the specific grade level you’ll teach, and some districts may require a master’s degree. But in many private and charter schools, those same license requirements do not apply and a bachelor’s degree relevant to the subject you’ll teach is enough. Strong communication and writing skills are necessary for this occupation, which involves planning, revising and producing content for publication in books, newspapers, magazines or websites.
Believe it or not, a philosophy degree is still a solid investment.
For the latest business news and markets data, please visit CNN Business. If you just graduated college with a degree in the liberal arts, there’s good news for you. First of all, average salaries for new college graduates are at an all-time high, according to executive search firm Korn Ferry. We know that your choice in major certainly matters. Yes, grads liberal arts majors make more money science, technology, engineering and math degrees are on a fast track to a big paycheck.
Related: How to pay off your student loans faster. Your career choice also plays a big role in how much you earn, and for liberal arts majors, career options are pretty broad, according to a new report from The Hamilton Project at the Brookings Institution. Ryan Nunn, an author of the report, said he was shocked to see just how much variety there actually is among people with the same major. The most popular occupation for people with degrees in communications is a manager in marketing, advertising, and public relations.
Broke No More: How can I pay off my student debt and still have a life? Psychology majors end up in a number of different fields, like teachers, social workers, counselors and, of course, psychologists.
The most popular occupation for psychology majors is a counselor. Take the often criticized philosophy major. About 1. Are you starting your first job? We’d love to hear about how you landed the gig and how it’s going.
Share your story by emailing Katie. Lobosco cnn. We’re no longer maintaining this page. Personal Finance. LendingTree Paid Partner. CNNMoney Sponsors. SmartAsset Paid Partner.
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Future Jobs Require Human Skills
These majors are routinely mockedand those who select them are warned they’ll end up working at Starbucks and living in their parents’ basement until they’re But a new analysis by two economists for The Andrew W. Sure, you’ll earn more out of the gate if you get an engineering degree, but a liberal arts education is far from a dumb idea. In fact, it’s well worth the investment if that’s where your heart leads you. What’s wrong with the usual scare stories about a liberal arts education? First off, the authors note that if you’re the kind of person who is seriously considering studying art therapy or anthropology, you’re unlikely to have the passion to thrive in some random tech-oriented job. Being unhappy in a career path is one of the best ways not to succeed in it. Does having a liberal arts education help those more inclined to the arts and humanities succeed financially? After crunching through an mind-numbing quantity of data here’s the complete report : it’s not a scintillating read : the answer is a clear yes. The authors conclude that while science, engineering, and pre-professional grads earn more out of the gate, their advantages decrease over time other analyses have found the same thing. Perhaps more importantly, using data from Harvard’s Equality of Opportunity Project, they also show that liberal arts degrees do nearly as well as more practical degrees at liberal arts majors make more money up students from poorer backgrounds. The bottom line is that, if you’re inclined more towards the humanities than the likes of computer science, then a good liberal arts degree will help you do well in your career and is generally well worth the time and money it takes to earn. The report is not without its critics, who note complications with the data for instance, the authors sometimes conflate graduating from a liberal arts college with studying liberal arts, even though you can get a science or engineering degree at many of these schools. A variety of CEOs, have spoken up about the value of liberal arts majors make more money arts degrees. Meanwhile, an analysis by LinkedIn economist Guy Berger shows that over time, those with more broadly focused liberal arts degrees handle today’s fast-changing job market better than those with narrowly focused pre-professional degrees. Finally, futurists that study the impact of A. No one should oversell the point. Everything depends on the individual student, their talent, interests, and economic situation and likely level of debt after school. But economic data offers no reason to talk yourself out of a liberal arts degree. No degree is a golden ticket to worldly success, but majoring in the likes of philosophy isn’t a one-way ticket to living in your parents’ basement .
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