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

[Jonathan Whatley]

One of the most common things to happen on DegreeForum is that someone chooses a bachelor's major like liberal studies instead of a major like computer science, in whole or in part to reduce time to completion.

We shouldn't be surprised that the general public will often choose much the same.

For a given student, their time to completion in their less hot major might be be x years whereas with levelling learning and prerequisite structures, it could easily take the same student x plus 1 year or even more to completion in a more hot major such as computer science. Consider the direct lost income in that extra time, and the downstream effects of the later start on career progression. The more demanding hot major might also reduce time available for employment while a student.