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

[sanantone]

I don't think the issue is always whether you can or cannot use your degree. Sometimes, the issue is whether you can use your degree for the occupation you want.

Social services has an underemployment rate below 50%. Psychology is at 50%, and sociology and criminal justice are above 50%. Why is that? All of these majors are applicable to social services, and social services organizations are always hiring. My educated guess is that people who choose these majors often don't want social services jobs. Many psychology majors want to be research assistants, or they planned to become licensed psychologists and changed their minds or couldn't get into a PhD program. Many criminal justice majors want to become special agents or crime scene analysts, but they didn't research the skills employers are looking for or how many job openings there are.