Choosing a College Major Using 3 Paths as a Starting Point Guide (Podcast Version)

[LevelUP]

Update 10/14/24: Added Podcast style audio that explains this guide
https://notebooklm.google.com/notebook/5...ff20/audio

There are generally two schools of thought that fall on both sides of the extreme.

1. Your degree choice is a life or death decision that must be carefully considered among the hundreds of majors.
   
2. Don't worry at all about your major choice, and pick any major you think you might be interested in.
   

This guide falls somewhere in the middle of these two schools of thought.

My personal philosophy on online college majors centers around the idea that for fields with diverse career prospects, there are three distinct paths to consider when selecting a major.

There are 3 general types of college paths to choose from

1. STEM
   
2. Liberal Arts
   
3. Business
   

STEM

Science  - Astronomy, Biology, Chemistry, Environmental Science, and Physics
Technology - Computer Science, Software Development, and IT
Engineering - Mechanical Engineering, Electrical Engineering, Civil Engineering, etc
Mathematics - General Mathematics and Statistics

Science - Not every STEM major can earn a high income. For example, graduates majoring in the most popular science field, biology, earn less than those studying sociology, psychology, and English.

Technology - The computer science degree is among the most popular and respected technology degrees, as it is usually more rigorous than other programs. Many computer science majors will go into research, software development, or IT. WGU offers the only recommended software development degree.

Engineering - Engineering requires both hard and soft skills. Most engineering programs demand a strong foundation in math and logic skills. Earning this degree online is hard to find and would be very expensive.

Mathematics - Math is one of the most important skills for a STEM career, as it's extensively used in all four STEM fields. Mathematics is also applicable to business.

Liberal Arts

The major categories within the liberal arts and the most popular degrees are:

Humanities - English, Literature, Foreign Languages, and Philosophy
Social Sciences - Psychology, Criminal Justice, History, Geography, Political Science, and Sociology
Creative Arts - Theatre, Painting, Music, Graphic Art, Video, Speech, and Creative Writing

Approximately 75% of liberal arts students will major in Social Sciences or Communications/Creative fields.

Liberal arts degrees are often looked down upon due to low starting salaries and the perception that they don't lead to specific job opportunities. However, individuals with high creative talent and/or strong communication skills can excel with this degree.

Business

A business degree offers various specializations, such as finance, marketing, accounting, economics, and leadership.

This degree can lead to numerous high-paying jobs. It's also suitable for entrepreneurs and individuals seeking to understand retirement planning. Even if you pursue a job unrelated to your degree, a management position may become available later in life.

Which majors offer the highest pay, and which ones experience the most underemployment?

• Liberal arts majors (excluding STEM) typically start with around $40,000 in salary.
  
• Business and Math majors generally start with around $50,000.
  
• Technology and Engineering majors usually start with around $60,000.
  

The underemployment rate for Technology, Math, and Engineering majors is approximately 20%. Business and Liberal Arts majors have an underemployment rate of around 50%.

Criminal Justice and Performing Arts have the highest underemployment rates, at 63% and 73%, respectively, indicating that individuals often end up in careers unrelated to their degrees.

For more information, refer to:
https://www.newyorkfed.org/research/coll...s-by-major

Advantages of going for multiple majors

1. Open doors to more employers and career paths
2. To help balance majors with their passion and skills.
3. More bang for your buck. 

In some instances, pursuing a double major or adding a minor may not significantly increase the time or cost of your degree. It's akin to visiting an all-you-can-eat buffet and sampling a bit of everything.

Some popular paths people take here on DF:

Pierpont BOG concentration IT (STEM)
UMPI Business Admin (Business)
UMPI Liberal arts major or minors (Liberal Arts)

TESU AS Math (STEM)
TESU Computer Science (STEM)
TESU Business Administration (Business)

Keep in mind some colleges will add extra courses you take beyond your degree requirements to your transcript.

https://www.usnews.com/education/best-co...at-to-know

Advantages of a general degree

The primary advantage of a less specific degree is that it avoids pigeonholing you into a particular career. Predicting the future job market and the creation of new roles is challenging. Additionally, your preferences may change over time.

Specialization in college or after college?

For instance, obtaining a business administration degree in marketing doesn't limit you to marketing jobs. You can acquire new skills, certifications, and apply for different roles.

With a computer science degree, a few months of software development training may be necessary to meet employers' requirements.

Suppose you hold a general IT degree and aspire to enter data analysis or cybersecurity. Gaining relevant certifications wouldn't take an extensive amount of time.

Once employed, you'll likely need an additional 2-3 months to master the skills required for your job.

Specializing in college saves time on post-graduation studying. Nonetheless, it's essential not to overthink your degree choice.

Exceptions to the rule

Exceptions to this rule include professions such as plumbing, teaching, or nursing, where specific education and licensing are required for a particular job. These professions fall outside the three basic paths.

Wrap Up

Students frequently grapple with the paradox of choice. Simplifying options to 3 or 5 major types can be beneficial. This guide aims to streamline the degree selection process and boost students' confidence in their choices.

Your major doesn't limit you to a specific career path. According to a study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, only 27 percent of college graduates work in fields closely related to their majors.

This guide is intended as advice, not an absolute fact.

[nomaduser]

You're missing medical degrees and mechanical engineering degrees...

They also pay a lot of salary

But the degrees cost lot of money

[Vle045]

You're missing medical degrees and mechanical engineering degrees...

They also pay a lot of salary

But the degrees cost lot of money

He covered that under “exceptions to the rule”

[freeloader]

I don’t really understand the point of your post, LevelUP. I am sure there are many students who are victims of “paralysis by analysis”, particularly when choosing between similar degrees. Lumping all of the “liberal arts” together, in particular, seems a bit much. Is it really your position that a person earning a BS with a double major in math and physics has received substantially the same degree as a person receiving a BA in English and Art History?

To be sure, in the United States most bachelor’s degrees have a liberal arts component and the two people that I mentioned should, SHOULD, be able to read, write, do math, and explain natural phenomena scientifically. But the skill sets, knowledge bases, and, yes, employability of the two hypothetical people I mentioned are quite different.

Liberal arts degrees tend to teach theory and a particular way of thinking/viewing the world. Non-liberal arts degrees tend to be more applied and practical degrees which teach a particular skill set. I think that would be the first-order distinction I would make. Within each of these fields, there are disciplines that are and that are not STEM+B. It’s basically a 2x2 matrix.

Examples:
Theory, STEM+B: Math, physics, biology, chemistry

Practice, STEM+B: Engineering, IT, nursing, accounting, finance

Theory, non-STEM+B: history, English, sociology, art history, psychology

Practice, non-STEM+B: public administration, social work, mental health counseling (and related)

To be sure, any of these distinctions are arbitrary and there is overlap. Some schools treat economics as a liberal art, some as a business discipline. Some treat physics as a liberal art, some as an applied/engineering discipline.

[bluebooger]

Vle045

You're missing medical degrees and mechanical engineering degrees...

They also pay a lot of salary

But the degrees cost lot of money

He covered that under “exceptions to the rule”

yeah, but saying there are only 3 types of degrees and leaving out paramedic, nursing, dental hygienist, electronic engineering technology, environmental science ...
seems kind of weird                

unless he's saying those are job specific so they don't count as degrees

[sanantone]

I didn't see math, which would fall under liberal arts. I believe the fine arts are typically grouped under humanities. There are four liberal arts categories: humanities, social science, natural science, and mathematics. Environmental science would fall under natural science.

Not all liberal arts subjects have the same marketability, but they all are more theory than practice with some exceptions. Ironically, the performing arts are more practice even though job opportunities are limited.

Not all business majors have the same utility. Business administration, business management, leadership studies, organizational leadership, and general business have less utility than more specialized business majors, especially the quantitative ones.

Not all STEM majors have the same marketability. Biology is notoriously low-paying. Also, the government, which came up with the concept of STEM, has a different definition than the general public. When it comes to immigration and grants, STEM includes the behavioral sciences. Psychology is almost always included in STEM.

[ss20ts]

Nursing?
Medical degrees?
Law degrees?
Culinary arts degrees?
Education - teaching degrees?
Human services?
Social work?
Architecture?

[LevelUP]

yeah, but saying there are only 3 types of degrees and leaving out paramedic, nursing, dental hygienist, electronic engineering technology, environmental science ...
seems kind of weird                

unless he's saying those are job specific so they don't count as degrees

Those are job specific, they don't count as a "general" degree. They count as a specific degree with specific jobs for that type of degree.

I don’t really understand the point of your post, LevelUP. I am sure there are many students who are victims of “paralysis by analysis”, particularly when choosing between similar degrees. Lumping all of the “liberal arts” together, in particular, seems a bit much. Is it really your position that a person earning a BS with a double major in math and physics has received substantially the same degree as a person receiving a BA in English and Art History?

To be sure, in the United States most bachelor’s degrees have a liberal arts component and the two people that I mentioned should, SHOULD, be able to read, write, do math, and explain natural phenomena scientifically. But the skill sets, knowledge bases, and, yes, employability of the two hypothetical people I mentioned are quite different.

Liberal arts degrees tend to teach theory and a particular way of thinking/viewing the world. Non-liberal arts degrees tend to be more applied and practical degrees which teach a particular skill set. I think that would be the first-order distinction I would make. Within each of these fields, there are disciplines that are and that are not STEM+B. It’s basically a 2x2 matrix.

Examples:
Theory, STEM+B: Math, physics, biology, chemistry

Practice, STEM+B: Engineering, IT, nursing, accounting, finance

Theory, non-STEM+B: history, English, sociology, art history, psychology

Practice, non-STEM+B: public administration, social work, mental health counseling (and related)

To be sure, any of these distinctions are arbitrary and there is overlap. Some schools treat economics as a liberal art, some as a business discipline. Some treat physics as a liberal art, some as an applied/engineering discipline.

Math/Physics may be considered liberal arts to some though employers may view this degree as a technical skills type of degree similar to Computer Science, IT, etc. Should these STEM-type majors be combined in one category of STEM instead of Computer Studies? Maybe. You are right I'm missing some valuable degrees that can stand on their own. 

It is a stretch to throw all these degrees together, but on the flip side of the coin, it's also a stretch to pretend there are all these unique degrees.

So, for example, ASU will say that you could be a police or corrections officer with a criminal justice degree. But couldn't you do the same thing with psychology, history, or any liberal arts degree? With an English degree, they tell you that you could be a writer or communication specialist. Again any liberal arts degree you could do that.

I guess what I'm getting at is when do employers on places such as Indeed.com request employees have certain liberal arts degrees for certain jobs, and when do they pay a premium for those degrees?

Liberal arts teaches valuable skills, which is why every degree has some component of liberal arts. I could go through one-by-one and list the reasons why each course is important on Sophia for example. Though a subject like environmental science may not help you career-wise, it may help you socially to understand the environmental debate.

Anyway, I'm open to criticism. Nothing is set in stone.

[jsd]

I've heard of distinction without a difference, but this seems almost the opposite. Narrowing of categorization without a purpose.

[sanantone]

Math and physics are definitely not computer science or IT. Sometimes, computer science is classified as a natural science/liberal art since it is math-based but not the other way around. Math is old; CS is new. A field of study can be STEM and a liberal art at the same time. Math and physics are very much theory. They don't train people to perform specific occupations other than being a mathematician or physicist, which are research-based occupations. As with all natural and social sciences, you're usually not considered a scientist until you earn a graduate degree.

---

I've heard of distinction without a difference, but this seems almost the opposite. Narrowing of categorization without a purpose.

I'm not getting why healthcare and engineering are listed as exceptions and not as main degree options. The healthcare category is one of the most popular categories. There are more people earning healthcare degrees than humanities degrees.

---

Math/Physics may be considered liberal arts to some though employers may view this degree as a technical skills type of degree similar to Computer Science, IT, etc. Should these STEM-type majors be combined in one category of STEM instead of Computer Studies? Maybe. You are right I'm missing some valuable degrees that can stand on their own. 

It is a stretch to throw all these degrees together, but on the flip side of the coin, it's also a stretch to pretend there are all these unique degrees.

So, for example, ASU will say that you could be a police or corrections officer with a criminal justice degree. But couldn't you do the same thing with psychology, history, or any liberal arts degree? With an English degree, they tell you that you could be a writer or communication specialist. Again any liberal arts degree you could do that.

I guess what I'm getting at is when do employers on places such as Indeed.com request employees have certain liberal arts degrees for certain jobs, and when do they pay a premium for those degrees?

Liberal arts teaches valuable skills, which is why every degree has some component of liberal arts. I could go through one-by-one and list the reasons why each course is important on Sophia for example. Though a subject like environmental science may not help you career-wise, it may help you socially to understand the environmental debate.

Anyway, I'm open to criticism. Nothing is set in stone.

How are math and science STEM-type degrees and not just STEM, and why would there be a debate over whether they should be grouped with computer studies? The M in STEM stands for math. The S in STEM stands for science; physics is a science. T is for technology, so that's for the IT majors.