9 Out of 10 New Jobs are Going to Those with a College Degree

[MNomadic]

Yes it's definitely rough for biology majors. My gf got her bs in biology with intention of med school. That didn't work out and she is working as a lab tech for a pharmaceutical company which isn't bad(but isn't great either), but there are only a handful of cities in the US where those jobs are available (according to what she told me). She's now applying for PA programs so hopefully that works out.

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most liberal arts majors are useless : psychology, history, english, criminal justice ...

a job training certificate from a community college in bookkeeping, computer networking, computer programming is more useful

and nobody working the floor at Walmart or Target needs a degree
or any fast food place
secretaries and administrative assistants could be just as productive with a two semester certificate

I've worked in a hospital as a programmer for 10 years without a degree -- everyone here thinks I'm a genius for accomplishing what I think are the most trivial tasks

To be fair, liberal arts also includes math and the physical sciences.
I think that technical and vocational programs are massively underutilized these days as they somehow got a stigma for non-academic types. People got it in their heads that everyone had to go to college for a 4 year degree and it didn't matter what the major was. Unfortunately, a lot of people got themselves tens of thousands in debt with psychology, history, art, English, etc degrees with no plan on how they were going to use them. Meanwhile, lots of international students from India, Asia, Europe, and middle East come to the US for engineering and other stem degrees and jobs(my observation anyways).

It depends on your definition of useless. If you mean useless in that those degrees aren't needed to do the types of jobs people with those degrees do, then that might be subjective. If you mean useless in that those degrees won't get you a job, then statistics don't back up your assertions. People with those degrees have lower unemployment rates than people who only have a high school diploma, and they make more money. Most psychology majors have jobs that require a degree. 

This article is about new jobs that were created in 2017. You don't need a degree to work at McDonald's, but most of the new jobs aren't being created by fast food restaurants. Most administrative assistant jobs don't require a bachelor's degree, so that's a moot point. You can get a low-paying job at Walmart or Target, but Walmart and Target are not enough to employ all the unskilled people. We actually do have unskilled jobs that are not being filled, but those are jobs Americans don't want to do. Americans would rather be unemployed than work out in the hot sun or the cold. 

During the recession when many people were struggling to find work, I would tell them that security companies and corrections are always hiring, and it's easy to get in. Then, I would get the excuse that the jobs are dangerous. There is a very, very small chance that you will be shot as a security guard, but you're more likely to die or be injured working construction or truck driving. Corrections officers can be assaulted, but a very small percentage will ever be seriously injured or murdered. They're more likely to die from diseases caused by poor dietary choices and lack of exercise. People will make up all kinds of excuses to not do jobs they think are beneath them.

Since the job market recovered, I have had absolutely no problem with finding employment with my BA in Social Science. It's actually been my most valuable degree. The state and local governments are always hiring people with social science degrees. It's a matter of whether or not people want to do those jobs. Many people get degrees in psychology with plans to go to graduate school. When they decide not to, they're shocked that most of the jobs available to them involve working with criminals, addicts, and the poor.

BTW, I wasn't trying to say lib arts is useless. I do think it's unwise for someone to pay tens of thousands for a degree that historically doesn't pay very well on it's own(without certain experience and other training/degrees/certifications). Obviously that's why most of us are here shooting for degrees that can be had for sub $10k. 

As you pointed out there are plenty of jobs out there for people with psychology/sociology degrees and plenty of jobs out there for people with no degree at all, but many are unwilling to work those jobs for whatever reason.