Most underemployed majors according to the U.S. Census American Community Survey

[sanantone]

Environmental Studies

50.2%

Medical Technicians

52.0%

Marketing

52.1%

Ethnic Studies

52.5%

English Language

52.5%

Sociology

53.5%

Philosophy

53.6%

International Affairs

53.9%

History

54.0%

Communications

54.1%

Anthropology

54.2%

General Business

55.0%

Miscellaneous Technologies

55.3%

Mass Media

56.2%

Art History

56.2%

Fine Arts

56.5%

Animal and Plant Sciences

56.8%

Public Policy and Law

57.6%

Agriculture

58.7%

Business Management

58.8%

Liberal Arts

59.5%

Leisure and Hospitality

59.8%

Performing Arts

63.0%

Criminal Justice

73.2%

https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/coll...ajors.html

[nomaduser]

It's very obvious now.

If you want to get a job, get one of these degrees:

1. Computer Science, Data Science
2. Information Systems / IT / Information Science
3. Engineering
4. Medical
5. Business Administration (top universities only)
6. Law (top universities only)

Other majors will suffer greatly unless they're lucky.
It could be that other majors were created to torture your life and steal your money.

95% of people should go to college to get these "employable" degrees.
95% of people shouldn't go to college to get other degrees that make them unemployable.

[rachel83az]

AFAIK, "underemployed" means "being in a job unrelated to your major and/or employed at a job that pays less than what you should be getting if you were in your correct field of work". Under those circumstances, paying a ton for those degrees is silly. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't get the degree you want. There is a huge, huge difference between going to a Liberal Arts college for $100k and getting a Liberal Arts degree from UMPI for less than $5k.

[nomaduser]

..........

[bluebooger]

Environmental Studies
Medical Technicians

I would have thought those would be more in demand
the first because of the move to green energy, the move to reduce carbon footprint and clean up the environment
the 2nd because, well, it just seems like something hospitals and laboratories would need a lot of

I would think employment opportunities for the first probably want a masters, but still a bachelors https://www.apu.apus.edu/academic/school...ience.html seems like a good start

[spohara]

AFAIK, "underemployed" means "being in a job unrelated to your major and/or employed at a job that pays less than what you should be getting if you were in your correct field of work". Under those circumstances, paying a ton for those degrees is silly. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't get the degree you want. There is a huge, huge difference between going to a Liberal Arts college for $100k and getting a Liberal Arts degree from UMPI for less than $5k.

On the first half - job unrelated to major - that describes my wife, but I think her degree was somewhat worth it.  She did work in her field for a short time, which was criminal justice.  Then she moved into project management and was hired partly because she worked for a police department at one point and the company was tired of PMs doing unethical things (or outright theft) like giving inflated contracts to their buddies and taking cuts under the table.  Hiring manager just thought he could trust her and train her up on her knowledge gaps.  Second half of the definition doesn't fit at all, because there is no money in CJ and she's doing pretty well now.  There are also jobs out there where they just want someone with the critical thinking associated with a degree (whether true or not, it is an easy signal), and the major isn't all that important.

[sanantone]

Environmental Studies
Medical Technicians

I would have thought those would be more in demand            
the first because of the move to green energy, the move to reduce carbon footprint and clean up the environment            
the 2nd because, well, it just seems like something hospitals and laboratories would need a lot of

I would think employment opportunities for the first probably want a masters, but still a bachelors https://www.apu.apus.edu/academic/school...ience.html seems like a good start

While there are some differences between colleges, environmental studies is less science-y than environmental science. Environmental studies focuses on human behavior and policy. One can become a medical laboratory technician with an associate's degree, so someone with a bachelor's degree would often be underemployed in this field. It's also not clear what they mean by medical technician because they could be throwing a wide variety of allied health jobs into that category.

[MNomadic]

It's very obvious now.

If you want to get a job, get one of these degrees:

1. Computer Science, Data Science
2. Information Systems / IT / Information Science
3. Engineering
4. Medical
5. Business Administration (top universities only)
6. Law (top universities only)

Other majors will suffer greatly unless they're lucky.
It could be that other majors were created to torture your life and steal your money.

95% of people should go to college to get these "employable" degrees.
95% of people shouldn't go to college to get other degrees that make them unemployable.

If 95% of college students only pursued those options those fields would quickly become oversaturated and no longer be as employable/high paying.

Also, while I agree those are great options to study, they are not realistic options for the majority of college students. Medical school and top law schools are notoriously difficult even for the best/smartest students and also notoriously difficult to even get admitted to. Traditional engineering and CS programs(though alt credits and some online options have made CS more attainable) are generally very difficult even for people with a good attitude for those fields. The advanced math alone is not realistic for the majority of students to learn(which isn't to say people can't achieve things if they put their mind to it.) IT and business programs generally have options at both ends of the spectrum as far as difficulty and career prospects. 

Believe it or not, the world runs on more than just doctors, lawyers, engineers, and technologists.

[nomaduser]

If 95% of college students only pursued those options those fields would quickly become oversaturated and no longer be as employable/high paying.

I mean, even when I say that, people would still try to get degrees in marketing, film, literature, music composition, etc.
They quickly become underpaid and suffer from unemployment or poor employment conditions/terms.

I can tell you now. Please make $100k salary with Computer Science, IT, Medical, Engineering degrees.
Later you can study film, music, performing art, history, archaeology, anthropology, humanities, sociology, dance, english literature as your hobby.

You can pursue these unemployable degrees AFTER you make millions of dollars with employable degrees.

i.e. You can get BS in CS, retire by early 30. Later, you can decide to do another BA in film studies or history as a hobby.
If your hobby starts making money for you, then it's good. If not, then stop spending too much money on it.

[rachel83az]

I can tell you now. Make $100k salary with Computer Science, IT, Medical, Engineering degrees.
Do film, music, performing art as your hobby.

You can pursue these unemployable degrees AFTER you make millions of dollars with employable degrees.

i.e. Get BS in CS, retire by early 30.  Get BA in film studies or history as a hobby.

I... can't even. Most people with CS or Engineering degrees don't earn that much. Nowhere close. Do they get paid well? Yes. But not millions.