A really good example of a POOR study and even worse conclusion. The conclusion should be half of the people attending college had regrets. Provides a good argument for NOT attending college at all unless you have a clearly defined plan for yourself. No significant differences between majors.

Of course it is the Washington Post.

LINK: https://wgntv.com/news/nexstar...ege-majors-regret-it

Can you post the source, please?

this is the click baitiest of titles to have absolutely zero content.

^^^^^^^^^^
Well thank you for the compliment!

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
Provides a good argument for NOT attending college at all unless you have a clearly defined plan for yourself.

Preferably one that will likely provide an income sufficient to offset the cost of the education.

Talking to the young lady across the street, at her HS graduation party. Asked her what she'd be majoring in. Purchasing and Supply Chain Management I think was the answer. Something like that. I complemented her on her choice of a rational major. Pretty sharp young woman. I could tell by her response, with a smile and a little laugh, that she got what I was getting at

Saw a screen capture of a Tweet last week (by a trans woman working some blue collar manual labor job) thanking Biden for paying for their philosophy degree.

It's hard to believe there's a shortage of high paying jobs in the philosophy field.

Did you expect the king to grant you lands and title?

quote:

The major people were least likely to regret, the Federal Reserve survey found, was engineering. Despite that popularity, engineering is still a far less common choice than other majors, NCES says.

Maybe because you need some STEM smarts to get an engineering degree?

45% of people surveyed who studied social and behavioral sciences also wished they’d picked something different.

I would say the majority of these graduates end up in a low paying local or state government job working for social services or a mental hospital.

quote:

I would say the majority of these graduates end up in a low paying government job working for social services or a mental hospital.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
That is sad because there is a huge shortage in the area. Govt. jobs in social services at the VA pay rather well,btw.

A lot of this, I believe, is due to the public school system and specifically the quality of school counselors that help students choose a college and major. Mine was great at telling stories about 1960s parties but knew basically nothing about college, majors, or community college options.

If a high school graduate doesn't get lucky and have parents that know how college works and what majors make sense, they are likely to fall for the general guidance telling them to just got get a degree in something they enjoy (aka 'pursue your passion!') and it will all work out.

If you manufacture nails then that is the solution to the world's problems. Teachers often feel success is getting kids to go to a liberal arts college as they did.

quote:

Originally posted by bryan11:
A lot of this, I believe, is due to the public school system and specifically the quality of school counselors that help students choose a college and major. Mine was great at telling stories about 1960s parties but knew basically nothing about college, majors, or community college options.

If a high school graduate doesn't get lucky and have parents that know how college works and what majors make sense, they are likely to fall for the general guidance telling them to just got get a degree in something they enjoy (aka 'pursue your passion!') and it will all work out.

True. I was at a meeting once with a representative from the public school for the parents at my son’s school whose children were receiving special needs services. She said something along the lines of “and of course we all want our kids to go to college”.

That idea seems to be ingrained in a lot of people’s minds. My reaction was no we don’t. Not because I don’t value education, but rather because I don’t view education as the end goal. It may or may not be a step in the plan for pursuing a livelihood.

quote:

Originally posted by ZSMICHAEL:
^^^^^^^^^^
Well thank you for the compliment!

It's true the link is full of click bait. I never found any relevant info, FWIW.

When I was 15, I figured these things out for myself, without need of a guidance counselor, and in fact despite having great parents, didn’t even need them to figure it out.
My school had a vocational program, and as I had an interest in healthcare, enrolled in the nursing program. Do 1/2 your senior year at nursing school, then a full year after graduation to get a practical nursing certificate. Why not go to a free program and even if I find healthcare isn’t my thing and decide to go in another direction, at least it is a job skill to pay the bills while going to college for something else. Besides that is where a lot of the pretty girls are anyway.
I thought that a pretty sharp move for a teenager.
As it turned out, I pursued more health education and that vocational nursing degree gave me a night job that Paid bills tuition, gas etc and allowed me to study at night when the patients were asleep and didn’t need immediate attention.
Resulted in my having little college debt after finishing my degree and have no regrets about my path at all.
Almost everyone voicing regret or having 20/20 hindsight ( same group clamoring for loan forgiveness imagine that) is someone who got one of those useless majors not providing a significant job skill

I happen to agree with the OP. I've been saying this for years. I have two useless college degrees. One was in Education, that didn't work out at all, and the other was in Urban Planning. Urban Planning ?? What the hell was I thinking? Good grief.

Fortunately I went on afterwards and had a reasonably successful career that spanned 30 years. College had nothing to do with that.

If I were an employer today the most important thing on my mind would be finding someone that has good common sense. That and probably a military veteran with an honorable discharge.

I know a few folks working on getting schools to support people going into the trades - the income helps, but the most successful tradesmen I know, except one, also have educations in accounting/finance.

The trade schools really should add some basic business classes/maybe offer some kind of community college education for tradesmen.

Bottom line, some people chose garbage degrees designed to keep average intelligence people spending money they don't have to delay entering the work force earning not enough to pay back what they owe for their worthless document. Yeah, that's regrettable. I can see why they want others to pay for it.

A friend's daughter wanted to major in Dance. I told him to tell her no, but the wife prevailed so she got the degree.

Couldn't get a job anywhere doing anything for a couple of years, then ultimately got a job in California...teaching dance to others who wouldn't be able to get a job with that degree.

When Covid hit, she was laid off and decided to "retire" with only around 8 years on the job.

And in other news, my brother has a degree in Zoology and another in mathematics and was a railroad dispatcher, something that requires a G.E.D. or better.

quote:

Originally posted by Bassamatic:
If I were an employer today the most important thing on my mind would be finding someone that has good common sense.

There is almost zero chance of common HR policies identifying someone with common sense, let alone hiring them.

quote:

Originally posted by Aglifter:
I know a few folks working on getting schools to support people going into the trades - the income helps, but the most successful tradesmen I know, except one, also have educations in accounting/finance.

The trade schools really should add some basic business classes/maybe offer some kind of community college education for tradesmen.

yeah I was certified to do IT, I was good at it. I got promoted. I went from being a tech to controlling a multimillion dollar budget and a crew of 15 over multiple campuses.

I had the tech down, that was demonstrated even in the interview. But dang I could have used some good management and accounting skills. But I knew I was over my head so I got help and studied hard. The HR and finance folks helped me too. Man they were a blessing.