Thursday, November 17, 2011

Are you doomed to high unemployment because of your major?

So, what's your major?

When you're a senior in high school everyone asks where you're applying college. The follow-up question inevitably will be about your major. Most people change their major at least once in college. I myself switched from business to psychology. For some, it can be a tough choice to make. There's been a lot in the news recently about whether or not college is a worthwhile investment, especially when you consider just how many recent graduates are struggling to find jobs. Unemployment rates for people aged 20-24 is at 16.5%, 10.9% for those aged 25-29. All higher than the national unemployment rate of 9.0%. Couple that information with the recent news about student debt climbing ever higher and, well...

Feeling any pressure to pick a major that pays well?

A friend emailed me a link to an interactive chart by the Wall Street Journal. Based on 2010 Census data, I can sort by unemployment, popularity, and earnings.

Do the most popular majors pay? Are you doomed to high unemployment because of your major?

Keep reading to see how the most popular majors fared.



Most popular majors

1. Business Management

2. General Business

3. Accounting

4. Nursing

5. Psychology

6. Marketing and Marketing Research

7. Communications

8. Elementary Education

9. General Education

10. Computer Science

Of these, would you guess that nursing has the lowest unemployment rate at 2.2.%? Communications has the highest rate at 6.3%. Followed closely at 6.0% by Business Management. Computer Science wins the earnings column, with a median of $77,000 and Elementary Education has the lowest median earnings with $40,000.

But the major with the highest unemployment rate is Clinical Psychology with a whopping 19.5%.

Check it out for yourself, see where your major stands.

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