20 Worst-Paying College Degrees in 2010

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

http://finance.yahoo.com/college-education/article/110196/20-worst-paying-college-degrees-in-2010?mo


Worst-Paying College Degrees in 2010


College Degree


1. Child and Family Studies $29,500 $38,400 Mid-Career Pay

2. Elementary Education $31,600 $44,400 Mid-Career Pay

3. Social Work $31,800 $44,900 Mid-Career Pay

4. Athletic Training $32,800 $45,700 Mid-Career Pay

5. Culinary Arts $35,900 $50,600 Mid-Career Pay

6. Horticulture $35,000 $50,800 Mid-Career Pay

7. Paralegal Studies/Law $35,100 $51,300 Mid-Career Pay

8. Theology $34,700 $51,300 Mid-Career Pay

9. Recreation & Leisure $33,300 $53,200 Mid-Career Pay

10. Special Education $36,000 $53,800 Mid-Career Pay

11. Dietetics $40,400 $54,200 Mid-Career Pay

12. Religious Studies $34,700 $54,400 Mid-Career Pay

13. Art $33,500 $54,800 Mid-Career Pay

14. Education $35,100 $54,900 Mid-Career Pay

15. Interdisciplinary Studies $35,600 $55,700 Mid-Career Pay

16. Interior Design $34,400 $56,600 Mid-Career Pay

17. Nutrition $42,200 $56,700 Mid-Career Pay

18. Graphic Design $35,400 $56,800 Mid-Career Pay

19. Music $36,700 $57,000 Mid-Career Pay

20. Art History $39,400 $57,100 Mid-Career Pay

[ellie]

1. I held my breath

reading that list, thinking my field would be there, but no.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

7. The pay for teachers us god damn embarrassing for a country like ours. nt

[EXneoCON]

2. Hmmm...

Methinks I spy a pattern. These are fall-back vocations for Professional Leftists!!!

I'd like to add "Historic Preservationist" to this list.

[uncommon]

3. I'm a paralegal...

and that's about right - some make quite a bit more, but average for an experienced paralegal is about $50K.

I don't think $50K is a terrible salary though.

Also, I think it would be more accurate if it tracked the type of work people with different degrees are *actually* doing - I bet that would give some different results.

Not everyone who earns an art degree is working in that field.

[zipplewrath]

4. And graduate degrees

There are many degrees that aren't really "trades" so to speak. If you really want to work "in the field" you're probably going to have to get a graduate degree. I'd hazard a guess that many of those degrees (I can almost guarantee the education related ones) that a graduate degree is required at some point even get those salaries.

[foxfeet]

9. Social work, for example.

You need an M.S.W. to do many jobs although there are B.S.W.-level positions, mostly requiring supervision from a master's level social worker. Social work was for many years seen as a women's profession, which contributes to the low pay scale.

[fujiyama]

64. Considering the debt load

becoming a paralegal may actually make MORE financial sense than going to the trouble of becoming an actual lawyer. I've read a lot of articles showing that the market is so saturated with lawyers that it's proving to be incredibly tough to get a decent job.

[uncommon]

73. I actually didn't go to college for paralegal studies -- I was an English major planning

on law school.

These days a starting associate attorney can make about what I make in a year - I can't imagine trying to pay for law school student loans on my salary but I am comfortable.

[LWolf]

5. My profession is there 3 times: education.

Yet I keep being told that teachers make too much money, and that our evil unions need to go.

[OmahaBlueDog]

6. The saddest to see was Social Work

Social Work $31,800 $44,900 Mid-Career Pay

Overburdened. They often have huge caseloads. The work is thankless. When a kid falls through the cracks in the system, the social worker responsible is usually roasted alive in the press.

Seriously, you'd be better off managing a McDonalds for that money.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

8. Tells you where our priorities are. nt

[pitohui]

34. there's a racism/sexism thing going on

when i see that "child & family studies" or "social work" degrees pay for shit, and i think abt who all i know who majors in those areas (black women) well...it tells me all i need to know about how far our society has advanced, which just ain't that far

[era veteran]

70. My Mom worked herself to death as a Food Stamp case

worker/ Masters Degree but little remuneration. She did it to help people. Rest now Peggy.

[Lance_Boyle]

10. Philosophy didn't make the list?

Is it not available as an undergrad degree anymore? 'Cuz there ain't no money in it unless you get a PhD and teach it to the next generation of professional students budding philosophers.

Interesting to me that Theology and Religious Studies make the list. Maybe there aren't enough megachurches and prosperity gospel hucksters yet to skew the results...

[uncommon]

12. It appears to me that this list only includes salaries of those actually employed in these

professions after getting said degree.

[Igel]

15. Ah.

That would account for me.

[Lance_Boyle]

16. Me too.

Good point, uncommon.

I guess nobody is employed as a "philosopher" anymore at all. Some "philosophy professors" out there but even for the most-published set it's somewhat of a stretch to put them in the same class as Plato.

[lolly]

33. Philosophy = Pre-law

It's a popular major for future lawyers. The arguments involved and abstract reasoning prepare for the LSAT, law school

[pitohui]

35. what lolly said

the ability to think and reason isn't really a bad thing to have, even if here in louisiana we actually have too many lawyers and law schools :-)

[Lance_Boyle]

71. It was pre-IT for me.

Logic and problem-solving - I'd say philosophy as an undergrad major is pre-anything. But it has to be pre-something, or else it's just pre-joblessness and pre-poverty.

[Hosnon]

80. Yep. nt.

[G_j]

84. I also have that degree

good for street corner philosophizing, as we used to joke..

A Bachelor of Philosophy degree is not offered by many schools.

[rucky]

22. I was just discussing this with my Philosopher the other day.

[JerseygirlCT]

39. I don't know...

most of the philosophy majors I know are scary-smart and disciplined people. That's likely to serve you well in whatever career you choose, I think.

[damntexdem]

11. Many of these degrees are in essential areas.

It is a disgrace to our country that they are among the worst-paying.

[RKP5637]

14. An oligarchy doesn't give a damn about these jobs! n/t

[hugo_from_TN]

17. What degrees do you think should be on the bottom?

Engineering?
Chemistry?
Medicine?

Let's hear it.

[Confusious]

19. I second that! Nt

[Kalyke]

28. Wall Street Trader, Politician and Faux News Shill.

I'd vote for those three, fellow Tennessean! :hi:

[appal_jack]

29. Business-Majors

Tell me one reason why an MBA who rationalizes and exacerbates inequality and wealth-privilege should earn any money at all, much less 3x-10x the salaries of educators, social workers, horticultural specialists, and others on this list.

-app

[pitohui]

37. why should any degree be on the "bottom?"

why shouldn't all important jobs that require a large investment in training pay well?

having poor people/poor paying jobs helps no one

having even "social work" pay well means you have a larger tax base, means that even kids who aren't math whizzes can do something besides sell drugs or real estate (selling real estate being far more destructive to society at the end of the day) to make a good living if they apply themselves...

we really don't need to have -- in fact, it's impractical to have -- a society where you have a large underclass of people who are not paid enough to live

[boppers]

59. Should all people be paid equally for all work?

If you have different pay, there will be a "bottom".

[Horse with no Name]

13. I'm in the process of giving up one of those higher paying careers

in healthcare (haha) and going back to school to obtain one of these "worst-paying" careers because I feel the need to make a difference and my job doesn't make a difference anymore.

[madinmaryland]

18. Teachers show up on the list, yet the fucking repubs whine endlessly about

how teachers are so overpaid.

:mad:

[LWolf]

44. Three times. Education is in the top 20 three times.

:grr:

[geek_sabre]

20. umm... Recreation & Leisure is a major?

[leftyclimber]

27. Yes. I'm about a month from a Ph.D. in it. Do you have questions about it?

I'm glad to answer.

[JerseygirlCT]

40. What do you study?

What sort of classes?

I've never heard of such a thing. (But then, I'm a product, and proponent, of small liberal arts colleges... it's hard to think of how that might fit into a basic liberal arts degree)

(Not being snarky; this is just a new one on me!)

[leftyclimber]

46. Fair enough. It's something you're more likely to see at land grants than LACs

although some small LACs do have recreation programs. It's a multidisciplinary field, so students are expected to have a strong ecological/biological/silvicultural background along with the core classes, but a typical undergrad Rec and Leisure program teaches a bit of everything:

- programming (what you see on your city parks and rec program's summer offering flyer)
- budget management
- design (trails, campgrounds ... we call it "toilet tech")
- planning (dealing with the National Environmental Policy Act and other legislative mandates that affect federal recreation use to generate a legally defensible and scientifically sound recreation plan)
- ecotourism (both positive and negative impacts)
- Wilderness management (for Federally designated Wilderness areas)
- interpretation (ranger talks and signs)

... and that kind of stuff. Some programs focus on therapeutic recreation, which is used frequently in children's hospitals and eldercare situations to bring physical therapy into a context that seems more like play than work. The general rec degrees are designed to give people the skills to work for a city, county, or state parks and rec program; a federal land management agency; or a private or nonprofit recreation provider. You get into more social-sciency stuff on the postgraduate levels; for all intents and purposes my current work is sociology with some rocks and trees thrown in. :)

[JerseygirlCT]

47. The name of the degree

makes it sound pretty fluffy.

That's not fluffy at all!

Thanks - good to learn something new!

[leftyclimber]

Yeah, it sounds like you go play around all the time.

A lot of freshpeeps are cheesed off to find out that if they major in Rec they get to work all the time so *other* people can play!

[JerseygirlCT]

51. It does!

Sort of like the majors you sometime hear announced for some football players at big schools... you know, the things they give them to keep their grades up enough to keep playing?

You guys need a more important name, to be sure!

[leftyclimber]

53. They've started to rename it to things that make it even less comprehensible to the general public

like Human Dimensions of Natural Resources and Natural Resources and Society. Which sound like survey classes, not majors.

[JerseygirlCT]

56. I'm guessing they need someone with

advertising and branding expertise, not an academic, to come up with a name!

It's sort of fun to think about what they might come up with, actually!

[jberryhill]

63. The core courses are

Advanced Goofing Off
Loitering Theory
Seminar: Sit,Slouch, or Lie Down?
Great Hobbies Of The 20th Century
Recliner Technique
Napping Practicum
Movie Rental Technology

[leftyclimber]

75. Ha, ha. nt.

[rucky]

21. They also happen to be the ones with the most social value. n/t

[raccoon]

24. Yep. And many of those who don't do anything of social value make the most.

And I am not referring to organized crime or drug dealers.

[keroro gunsou]

23. well this is good to know

too little, too late for me. i've got my graphic design degree and i'm going for culinary arts/baking. wow, i'm double-fucked.

[RadiationTherapy]

32. Design and cooking/presentation are certainly related.

I bet you can find creative ways to stand out.

[Curmudgeoness]

25. Very few surprises. This list could have been written 40 years ago

when I went to school. These are mostly careers that people choose for passion, not pay. And that makes it a self-fulfilling prophesy. They know they will not be in it for the big bucks, and so they settle for peanuts out of desire to do for society.

[Kalyke]

26. Where's Communications degrees?

Average reporter's salary = $35,000

http://www.simplyhired.com/a/salary/search/q-reporter

Seriously, how accurate is this?


(BTW, this is part of the reason media sucks in this country. The only way to make money in reporting is to become a Beck-like shill or leave the profession. I had to leave the profession at a "wondermous" salary of $19,000 a year.)

[rucky]

42. Big money in corporate communications.

That's what some of the future lobbyists graduate with.

[aikoaiko]

30. Its hard to believe that Psychology is not on that list.

:shrug:

[JI7]

31. Paralegals need a college degree ? the people pick most of these areas to study

do it in large part because they have interest in the subject. the same goes forhigher paying areas.

but if someone loves music i think they would prefer to get a job in that area which may pay less but enough to make a decent living rather than work somewhere they hate so they can make more money.

[Manifestor_of_Light]

67. Frantically waving Juris Doctor degree in air --

I guess I would be a super paralegal.

Between 2002-2006 I looked for a paralegal job with the help of my law school's placement office. Guess how many interviews I got with my fabulous experience and credentials, as outlined below???? ONE interview in four years. Oh, and I can type 115 words per minute, going back and correcting it, on a computer.

Have the A.A.S. (2 yr degree) in Court reporting -- did that for almost 20 years, got the stress, got the burnout, got the high blood pressure. Watched a zillion hearings and trials in all court from JP to federal -- was a legal secretary BEFORE that for my dad who was an attorney.

Finished a four year BA in Biology which was totally separate -- learned lots of medical terms in Greek and Latin, which is quite useful for medical/expert witnesses in civil and criminal cases.

Went to law school at night for five years while working at the courthouse slaving over a hot Stenograph machine. Went to a law school that cranks out nationally known trial lawyers who are well prepared for the real world. I was prepared for it by working in it.

Earned that J.D., but never was able to pass the bar, for reasons which were mystifying to me -- I saw the best silver tongued devils ply their craft in a major metropolitan area.

In the 90s the judges eased the court reporters out of a job by swearing up and down that tape recorders could take over our jobs. Well, they could, but they can't listen to people and stop them from mumbling, or make them repeat a word or a line, or stop when the lawyer and witness are overlapping. The judges think technology solves everything and it does not. It just gives you an unusable transcript full of (inaudible)s that's not worth taking up on appeal. And who is going to certify the transcript as being what really happened? Not the reporter. The tape recorder person is not trained properly. The lawyers did it to get more money because they think we are a nuisance. So my court reporting job evaporated in the mid 1990s due to lawyer greed.

Graduated 25 years ago, with Juris Doctor, got ONE Temp job that involved entering info from ancient gas leases into a huge database. I could just barely stand doing it. Job lasted about three months in 1999. Everyone either had a BA with a strong legal background or a law degree. Whoop de doo. None of those guys I went to law school with could find me a job as a paralegal although I can practically type an original petition, deed, or divorce petition, or general denial out of memory. I guess I didn't bribe the right judge or blow the right one or... I just don't know.


One judge would not hire me because I didn't know the people I would be working with. I live in the NEXT COUNTY OVER!!! I don't know the people in that county! HELLLOOOO!!!

These guys get over a million bucks a year just as their share of the profits (NOT their salary) as partners in their firms, but no, they just can't create a job for me, you see, although I am the most overqualified court reporter in the state of Texas, because they just, you see, their hands are tied. Because they are greedy assholes, actually, and don't want anyone else to get a penny.

I let my court reporting certification lapse because the board in Texas couldn't understand how a BA in biology and a law degree would make me a better court reporter, and I was asked to explain how each course I took related to trials and how it would make me understand it better, and how I could use it as continuing education credits. They were too stupid to understand that. So I told them their chickenshit continuing education courses were a waste of time -- they did not teach me anything, whereas the courses I took in college and law school did.

One cheap bastard lawyer said I was the only court reporter in town who could spell spondylolysis, spondylolisthesis, and spondylosis, and knew the differences between them. This was a plaintiff's lawyer who had his pet neurologist who did disk fusions (bad backs - herniated nucleus pulposus) and such. Yet this bastard called me up and screamed at me for charging him $6/page instead of $5/page for transcripts.

After that I let him use an incompetent court reporter who didn't have a biology degree and couldn't spell. I decided if paying me another dollar a page to do it right was gonna break him financially, I didn't need him for a client.

I allegedly got one of those degrees that makes you employable. Even lawyers are scared of a really educated court reporter. It's criminal the way this society tells people to get skills and educations, and then either doesn't use them at all or chews them up and spits them out, as broken people who can't handle the verbal abuse and stress any more.......


Who me? Burned out? Can't stand lawyers? :wtf:

[uncommon]

74. Actually, many people working as paralegals are law school graduates --

many others have a bachelor's in paralegal studies, and most of the rest have degrees in some other area.

Community colleges offer certificate programs which used to be enough most places but with the number of 4-year program graduates these days, it's almost impossible to get an interview without a bachelor's degree.

[lumberjack_jeff]

36. Wow. Who'd have thought that jobs with non-monetary reward pay poorly?

If it looks like fun, lots of people are going to want to do it. It isn't a matter of sexism/racism/social priorities - it's a matter of supply and demand.

[JerseygirlCT]

38. I often hear people disparaging English majors

as the ones who won't find a job.

As one of those darned English majors, I'm happy to see we're not on the list!

(Do people really major in "Recreation & Leisure"?)

[leftyclimber]

45. As stated upthread, yes we do. I'm getting my doctorate in it.

On lower levels (B.S.) we work for city, county state, and federal recreation programs. We organize all the programming for your local parks and rec department. We provide therapy for veterans, children, and the elderly. We design, build, and maintain your trails. We work for nonprofit organizations involving youth, adults, and the elderly, frequently for those living below the poverty line. We run recreation programs on military bases and for military families. We work for Outward Bound and NOLS. We provide interpretation in National Parks.

On the Master's level we manage those programs. We work with NGOs to encourage green travel and ecotourism opportunities. We teach at community colleges and in environmental education programs.

On the Ph.D. level we do social science research benefiting city, county, state, and federal recreation programs, helping them make management decisions that are legally defensible, environmentally sound, and fiscally feasible. We provide policy input related to new, conflicting, or controversial recreation activities and decisions. We teach undergraduates and graduate students. We contribute to major urban, rural, and public land planning efforts. We help rural areas deal with wanted and unwanted tourism development. We direct major recreation organizations in the public, private, and nonprofit sectors. We organize public meetings and analyze the data generated by public input. We work with urban foresters to bring more green space to communities. We provide input to government on the social and psychological benefits of leisure (in other words, we fight for everyone's right to have time off).

I realize recreation is devalued in American society, as the posts amazed that there could be such a major indicate. But if you've ever used a city park, walked on a trail in a National Forest, listened to an interpretive talk in a National Park, or gone to a public meeting dealing with some sort of recreation related decision, you've more than likely interacted with a Recreation and Leisure major (also known as Parks and Recreation or Leisure Studies). Next time you see one of those folks, thank them. They are willing to earn a little less money to make your day a little nicer.

[JerseygirlCT]

48. Actually

I work in the non-profit sector, and much that you do sounds pretty darned familiar to my current employer.

I just had no idea.

As I said upthread, the name of the degree sure doesn't make it sound as serious as it obviously is!

[leftyclimber]

50. No offense taken.

I just hear as much crap about Rec and Leisure as I'm sure you do in English, which is another hard, hard major. So I get kind of evangelistic about it IYKWIM. :hide:

[JerseygirlCT]

52. It's a better thing

that you feel that way, I think.

Why would you be pursuing this if you DIDN'T feel passionate enough to evangelize?

:toast:

[supernova]

55. Another English Major checking in

was also surprised we aren't on that list.

But I am looking for work right now.

[JerseygirlCT]

57. Hope you find it!

We can't ever have too many good communicators.

[sweetloukillbot]

66. We should be....

After 10 years as a reporter for one of the top 10 papers in the country, I was making 33K a year.

[yawnmaster]

41. Pay is only one factor of the job. Its not everything...

If I'm going to be spending 1/3 or greater of my life at something, I'll take a lower pay for something I enjoy vs a high paying job that I hate.

We are too used to using pay as a metric of success.

[orleans]

43. well, thank god theater and acting didn't make the list!

(LOL!!)

[JerseygirlCT]

49. That was the other part of my major, lol

(Though it wasn't an acting degree, but a literary one.)

[orleans]

62. my daughter is an acting major. (wish us luck.) n/t

[Gaedel]

69. Can she??

Can she clearly enunciate, "would you like fries with that?"

[leftyclimber]

54. Hey, my undergrad major!

Maybe I ought to go back to acting so I can make more money. :P

[JerseygirlCT]

58. Only if you're really, really good!

Otherwise, you end up waiting a lot of tables, I think.

My kid is now a theater major. But at least he knows there's more out there in the theater world than just acting.

[leftyclimber]

60. I was a pretty steadily working stage actor when I lived outside the States.

Little arthouse theatre companies, avant-garde stuff, some Shakespeare. Then I moved back. Here I was at That Age™ when women suddenly aren't useful to directors or playwrights unless they're a famous movie star. My agent told me I needed to get "work" done and lose 50 pounds (putting me at 5'7" and 85 lbs) to continue to get the kind of work I was used to. But I couldn't lose the hooters. (WTF?) I moved back right at the time when the whole anorexic fake person type was very popular, and even when that type's not hot in the States they have a tendency not to cast people who look like, well, people. No thanks.

So off to grad school it was...

[JerseygirlCT]

81. That's a perfectly ludicrous

weight!

I worked in regional theater for a long time. Lots of actors, in all shapes and sizes. But yes, even in that sort of special atmosphere, women who were no longer ingenues were rare. Which is silly - especially when you look at the shape of many of the men of that age who are getting plenty of work!

[Art_from_Ark]

61. I have my doubts about this article

First of all, there is a difference between having a degree in a field and actually working in that field. Is this survey, or whatever it was, limited to people with a degree in the field they are actually working in?

Secondly, I can think of quite a few majors at my university that aren't on that list that probably wouldn't be paying a whole lot of money as a starting salary for the average graduate, including, but not limited to

Comparative Literature
Modern Dance
Drama
English language/literature
French language/literature
German language/literature
Geography
Home Economics
Italian language/literature
Library Science
US History
World History
World Literature

[wickerwoman]

68. Just to nitpick a bit...

Translators make pretty good money (not great, but not bottom 20) and anyone with a Comp Lit, French, German or Italian major would be qualified.

Geography majors often go into urban planning (which I'm working on a Masters in now- 80% my classmates are geography majors.) Starting planners make $45,000+ and mid-level career is over $80,000.

My aunt has one of the coolest jobs ever with her library science degree. She works for an international consulting firm, makes well over $100,000 and gets to travel all over the world doing research and writing reports for different clients.

A lot of seemingly useless degrees feed into fairly reasonably-paying jobs that drag the average up.

It would be nice to see these ranking adjusted for unemployment though. I would guess English Lit, History and Philosophy would be pretty close to the top of the list.

[Art_from_Ark]

83. Unfortunately, the translation market is drying up

The problem with translating Western European languages, for example, is that there is a LOT of competition-- from people who grew up in a multi-lingual environment, from people who live in low-cost countries who can utilize the Internet to send relatively inexpensive translations instantaneously to clients anywhere in the world, and from "machine translations" between languages with similar syntax and structure. Even the market for Japanese-to-English translations, which used to be quite lucrative in the past, has shriveled up in the past couple of years.

Your aunt got lucky with her library of science degree. My experience is that the people I know with such degrees, if they could find work in their field, ended up in public libraries where the pay scale is quite low.

Geography is a mixed bag. If you have a good background in GIS, it would be easier to find a job, especially in urban planning that you mentioned. But majors without that GIS background are going to have a much tougher time of it.

[fujiyama]

65. No big surprise

Especially in a tight economy, employers are hesitant to hire people without proven skills, or comparable credentials.

Frankly, I think so many nowadays are fed that going to college is a must, and are likewise pushed by clueless counselors, that real skills are not being taught. Four year degrees are so expensive, and now things have shifted to private for profit universities and schools, which are an even bigger scam.

I think we're losing the ability to produce skilled tradesmen, electricians, and have people really develop and utilize talents and strengths. I know one guy who's just a little older than me and he's doing VERY well. I have a four year degree, and he doesn't, but he has excellent APPLICABLE work experience where he actually applied the skills he was taught. My degree is in a very similar area, but the reality is there's no substitute for real work experience.

Especially if we want to invest more in green jobs, we not only need engineers and scientists - but smart electricians, mechanics, welders, and craftsmen...

[Vinca]

72. Bottom line - what is more important, doing what you love or money?

If I had it to do over again, I'd start with culinary school.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

77. It's never too late (I know it's a cliche). I mean not that I have any clue what your situation is.

But you're right. I know very happy people in jobs which don't pay a whole lot and some very unhappy ones with a lot of money.

[hyphenate]

76. Like some, I think many of these are

considered "womens'" jobs.

Consider this: plumbers, electricians, construction workers, machinists, and such--you don't go to college for them, but you do train for them. MEN'S jobs. Better paying than any of the above, without the need to spend excessive amounts of money at a college.

[newportdadde]

78. The reason for the low pay is these jobs don't add to the oligarchy wealth.

If someone can't pay you five bucks and then sell it for 35 they aren't going to pay you squat. It disgusts me to see things like education on this list although I knew it would be there. For now though teaching kids doesn't make someone money.. well at least not until we privatize all the schools and get rid of those pesky teacher unions.

[Guy Whitey Corngood]

79. I mean what could go wrong when less and less people go into teaching? Not just

because of the shitty pay. But teachers sometimes have to put up their own money when the districts are too broke to provide certain things for students.

[MilesColtrane]

82. 57K mid-career pay for a holder of a music degree?

Taking a look at my income trend since graduating, this means I should hit mid-career at the age of 127.