Are you paying big bucks for

Parent Cafe
1

<p>20 worst paying college degrees</p>

<p>major,starting salary,mid career salary

  1. Child and Family Studies $29,500 $38,400
  2. Elementary Education $31,600 $44,400
  3. Social Work $31,800 $44,900
  4. Athletic Training $32,800 $45,700
  5. Culinary Arts $35,900 $50,600
  6. Horticulture $35,000 $50,800
  7. Paralegal Studies/Law $35,100 $51,300
  8. Theology $34,700 $51,300
  9. Recreation & Leisure $33,300 $53,200
  10. Special Education $36,000 $53,800
  11. Dietetics $40,400 $54,200
  12. Religious Studies $34,700 $54,400
  13. Art $33,500 $54,800
  14. Education $35,100 $54,900
  15. Interdisciplinary Studies $35,600 $55,700
  16. Interior Design $34,400 $56,600
  17. Nutrition $42,200 $56,700
  18. Graphic Design $35,400 $56,800
  19. Music $36,700 $57,000
  20. Art History $39,400 $57,100</p>

<p>[20-worst-paying-college-degrees-in-2010:</a> Personal Finance News from Yahoo! Finance](<a href=“http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/110196/20-worst-paying-college-degrees-in-2010?mod=edu-continuing_education]20-worst-paying-college-degrees-in-2010:”>http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/110196/20-worst-paying-college-degrees-in-2010?mod=edu-continuing_education)</p>

2

<p>Oh for heaven’s sake. I didn’t send my kids to college to win a salary contest. They went to college for an education in a field of interest to them.</p>

3

<p>Should we take that as a YES? Perhaps we could have a contest for the WORST choice of a major to help you find a self-supporting job. I met a kid from UT majoring in “Urban Studies”.</p>

<p>He was almost a senior so I just smiled, but a little voice in my brain said “you’d better practice asking ‘do you want fries with that?’”.</p>

4

<p>A B.S. biologist’s salary would not be that much different in my neck of the woods. I’m paying/paid for the two of them. What they are getting is a platform from which they can jump higher - medical school, PhD, etc. if they wish to do so.</p>

5

<p>OK, so years ago my Dad was upset when my sister majored in design. She ended up self-employed and making more than I do (accountant/CPA).</p>

6

<p>AllThisIsNewToMe, that’s crazy. I’m planning on majoring in urban studies. This is just a sampling of the list of fields available to me:</p>

<p>law - lawyer, prosecutor, etc.
education reform - activist, politician, administrator
non-profit work, NGOs - self explanatory
politics - politician, managerial positions, secreterial positions
academics - professorship, social science research</p>

<p>Some pay well. Some don’t. There’s more to life than salary.</p>

7

<p>^ are you (parents) paying for that or are being subsidized by Stanford endowment?</p>

8

<p>If every student went to college and majored in a field that is considered “lucrative” wouldn’t that drive the income level down for those fields?</p>

9

<p>Perhaps Tom, but then they wouldn’t be relying on those 10% ‘lucrative’ salary earners to carry half of the country’s tax burden.</p>

10

<p>I would think it depends. We got a surplus of lawyers. I don’t hear it’s getting cheap. Just more lawsuits, frivolous or not, it seems.</p>

11

<p>I helped with hiring this summer for a very exclusive internship program (over 200 applicants in the final interview pool, with about a dozen spots available). My top candidate (who ended up getting one of the spots and performing really well in it) was an urban studies major. The internship was not closely related to his major, but he outshone many other candidates.</p>

12

<p>My major is in athletic training. It’s a passion for me and this has been hashed out on the NATA’s website. It is what it is. Sure I’d love to make more money, but with our “first” setting being in secondary schools it’s hard for our salaries to increase.</p>

13

<p>I could care less what my kids major in and would pay the same amount no matter their field of study in college. I don’t get the concept of “worst paying degrees” because I did not send them to college specifically to come out able to earn a particular salary. </p>

<p>I think of college first and foremost as becoming better educated. Secondly, a college degree, no matter the major (many have careers not directly connected to their major) is worth something in the work world as it enables you to have more career options than no college education. </p>

<p>I believe you should study what you are passionate about. I know I did, and so did my kids. </p>

<p>I have likewise not understood sentiments on CC about attending X or Y college to enable one to “earn a higher salary” than if they attend Z college. We never thought about college selection in terms of salary, just like choice of major was never about salary either. </p>

<p>For the record…my undergrad degree is in Child Study and my grad degree is in Education (both on that list) and D1 is in architecture and sustainable design /building technology and D2 is in musical theater. Currently, we all are working in our respective areas of interest.</p>

<p>PS, yes, we are paying big bucks for our kids’ educations, including loans and financial aid. My parents paid for my education.</p>

14

<p>Yes, and if my child is happy than I am happy.</p>

15

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<p>There are many reasons why we have a surplus of lawyers. One of those reasons is that we have a surplus of people with liberal arts degrees who realize they cannot get jobs with those degrees and decided to go to law school. If we could get rid of the surplus of liberal arts majors such as English and History, we could get rid of the surplus of lawyers.</p>

16

<p>Should we have no educators? Social workers? Designers? Musicians? Clergy? Don’t we, as a society, benefit from educating these professionals, just as we benefit from educating all the future physicians, engineers, and investment bankers?</p>

17

<p>…If we could get rid of the surplus of liberal arts majors such as English and History…</p>

<p>That’s where my D is headed to. I don’t see her becoming a lawyer. Probably a teacher, the second poorest.</p>

18

<p>Yes, but teachers - especially Special Ed teachers - have better job stability than most other jobs. Right now many districts are having hiring freezes or even cutting teachers, but that’s pretty rare. For the most part, if you get a few years of seniority as a teacher - especially Special Ed, which is mandated - you don’t have to worry about being laid off. Which is more than most people can say…</p>

19

<p>haven’t we been there/done this a million times before?</p>

<p>We don’t all value the same things…ain’t America grand?</p>

20

<p>My sister has a 4 yr degree in Art. I went to med school. She is retired and freelancing, able to live off her current salary and not touching her retirement, and I am working harder than ever for less than I made years ago. She is two years younger than I. </p>

<p>It is more about passion, hard work, and loving what you do. We are BOTH happy as clams.</p>