While roughly nearly half of people regret their college majors, some majors lead to more regret than others.
According to a recent report by the Federal Reserve entitled, “Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2023,” majors with less organic or less obvious career paths like humanities and the arts — which can lead to a very diverse array of careers — are regretted the most.
Social and behavioral sciences, which 44% of grads reported regretting, tops the list that includes humanities and arts (43%), life sciences (also 43%), law (41%), and education (38%).
Meanwhile, the least regretted majors include engineering, information sciences, business, and health sciences — one of the most commonly acquired degrees by Black college students today. While many may eventually regret their law degrees, law is another popular degree program among Black college students.
Analyzing the Federal Reserve data, many people regret their degrees because they lack decent or high pay and career satisfaction. Many popular degree programs, like the humanities and the arts, have limited job opportunities compared to the number of degree holders. Industries like journalism and communications, other degrees nearly most regret, have changed rapidly, aging many out quickly.
The report further confirms that college enrollment among Black Americans continues to decline. A report by Georgetown University examining African American trends in higher education also found that Black Americans regularly pursue degrees that lead to low-paying career fields over STEM and other higher-paying fields.
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The Federal Reserve’s report found that even despite finding satisfaction, most respondents would study something else if given a second chance. Regardless, at 80%, most college graduates do not regret going to college altogether.
“More than one-half of adults who ever enrolled in an educational program beyond high school (and were not currently enrolled) said that the lifetime financial benefits of their higher education exceeded the financial costs,” analysts wrote in the report.
Analysts continued, “Most people value the education they received, but with the benefit of hindsight and life experience, it was also common to think that different educational decisions could have been better.”
