"… College debt was followed by chosen area of study (12%) as a top regret for employees, though this varied greatly by major. Other regrets include poor networking, school choice, too many degrees, time spent completing education and academic underachievement.
Most satisfied: Those with science, technology, engineering and math majors, who are typically more likely to enjoy higher salaries, reported more satisfaction with their college degrees. About 42% of engineering grads and 35% of computer science grads said they had no regrets.
Most regrets: Humanities majors, who are least likely to earn higher pay post-graduation, were most likely to regret their college education. About 75% of humanities majors said they regretted their college education. About 73% of graduates who studied social sciences, physical and life sciences, and art also said the same. " …
Thankfully H (accounting major who worked with computers), I (sociology major who became an attorney and now running public health nonprofit), our D (cinema major who helps with cinema and media projects) and S (EE major who does EE, robotics, wearable tech, and buys and resells items) are all happy enough with our degrees.
I can see how folks who graduate with significant debt and only get jobs that they could’ve gotten without a degree might find the degree less valuable.
The article mixes up percentage with regrets and percentage with no regrets, making comparisons more difficult. Apparently, the percentages were of all types of regrets (including cost/debt, “poor networking, school choice, too many degrees, time spent completing education and academic underachievement”).
Engineering: 42% no regrets, meaning <= 58% regrets
CS: 35% no regrets, meaning <= 65% regrets
Business: 66% regrets
Health sciences: 67% regrets
Math: 68% regrets
Social studies, physical and life sciences, art: 73% regrets
Humanities: 75% regrets
Perhaps not a surprise that those in majors leading to lower income or hard-to-get major-related professions tended to have more regrets, since having lower income can increase the regrets associated with cost/debt. Of course, those choosing majors that they are really not interested in only for higher income job prospects could have regrets relating to lack of interest.