We all know bullshit majors exists.
For example -- History.
Sorry, not sorry, History majors.
I should say I know the anxiety of having a potentially bullshit major seeing as how I majored in English. So imagine my delight and validation when I discovered that English is not one of them.
And this isn't based on anecdotes from my fellow English majors or my own gut feeling -- we have the data that shows English isn't a bullshit major.
However, there are definitely a good number of majors that are absolute bullshit.
Let me walk you through it:
Avg. Income for 30-somethings (29-31)
We started by looking at Census PUMS data to determine the average income of 29 to 31-year-olds. We chose this age range to account for the time it takes to graduate college and find jobs.
The average income for 30-something-year-olds is around $44,000.
30-somethings's Avg. Income by Education
When we break down incomes by education, it becomes clear that more education leads to higher earning potential.
You can see that a bachelor's degree on average will earn you significantly more than a high school diploma or an associate's degree.
Average income for those with bachelor's degrees is $57,352.
Compare that to the average incomes for workers with associate's degrees, $39,046, and workers with high school degrees, $34,007, and you can see the how glaring the numbers are.
30-somethings' Avg. Income by Major
When we compared incomes of college graduates across 174 majors, we noticed that most majors aren't bullshit.
In fact, a quick look at the graph shows only a handful of majors that are really, actually bullshit -- earn less than people with fewer years of education.
And those are clustered far to the left on the X-axis.
Bullshit Majors Start To Appear
Indeed, when you look more closely, you can see that degree choice matters.
You could choose a major like U.S. history that doesn't earn more than the average associate's degree graduate.
You could choose even less wisely and go with Educational Psychology, a major that pays $4,182 less than the average high school graduate and $9,221 less than the average associate's degree graduate earns.
These would definitely qualify as bullshit majors.
Even More When Accounting For Debt
What's even more troubling is, if you factor in the crippling debt that may accompany these bullshit majors, the average earnings drop even further.
You can see from the graph that twice the number of majors now qualify as bullshit majors, earning less than the average associate's degree graduate, meaning your chances of choosing a bullshit major are even higher.
The Bullshitiest Of Them All
So if you are that unlucky Educational Psychology major with student loan debt, you can expect to earn $7,782 less than an average high school diploma holder.
Defining Bullshit Majors
So here's what we learned.
Bullshit majors don't increase your likelihood of making a good living compared to fewer years of education.
Don't waste your time and money on bullshit majors. Unless of course you really love the subject (and/or have a giant trust fund waiting for you) and care very little about how you plan to use the degree in real life.
Finally, there are some majors that stand out as absolute bullshit majors --- where the unemployment numbers in those cases are also worse than people with just HS diplomas. Combining unemployment and low earnings arives at the shitiest of the bullshit majors.
The Two Shitiest Of The Bullshit Majors
Methodology
Using the most recent PUMS data from the American Community Survey, we were able to drill down the data by average annual income and majors.
We only looked at workers between the ages of 29 and 31 who were employed the whole year and worked at least 35 hrs/week.
We ranked all 174 majors to visualize how the average income for those majors measured up to high school diploma and associate's degree.
We also ranked unemployment rates among all 174 majors and then by comparing the majors with the lowest average income alongside the majors with the highest unemployment rates, we were able to determine the shitiest of the bullshit majors.
The data shows there are definitely college majors that are absolute bullshit.
