On the other hand, the new ZipRecruiter survey found that 72% of grads with computer/information sciences and criminology degrees would choose those majors all over again if they could.
By
Evan Castillo
Reporter
Evan Castillo is a reporter on BestColleges News and wrote for the Daily Tar Heel during his time at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He's covered topics ranging from climate change to general higher education news, and he is passiona...
Published on November 23, 2022
Edited by
Darlene Earnest
Editor & Writer
Darlene Earnest is a copy editor for BestColleges. She has had an extensive editing career at several news organizations, including The Virginian-Pilot and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She also has completed programs for editors offered by the D...
Learn more about our editorial process
By
Evan Castillo
Reporter
Evan Castillo is a reporter on BestColleges News and wrote for the Daily Tar Heel during his time at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He's covered topics ranging from climate change to general higher education news, and he is passiona...
Edited by
Darlene Earnest
Editor & Writer
Darlene Earnest is a copy editor for BestColleges. She has had an extensive editing career at several news organizations, including The Virginian-Pilot and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She also has completed programs for editors offered by the D...
Published on November 23, 2022
Learn more about our editorial process
Ungureanu Vadim / EyeEm / Getty Images
- Almost half (44%) of job-seeking degree holders regret their college majors, according to a new survey by ZipRecruiter.
- Journalism is the most regretted major, according to a survey.
- Regret is heavily influenced by salary.
Another economic survey shows that lots of college graduates regret their major.
Economists at ZipRecruiter last week released their survey of the most regretted college majors. The takeaway: Almost half (44%) of job-seeking degree holders regret their college majors.
The top three regretted majors, according to ZipRecruiter, are journalism (87%), sociology (72%), and liberal arts and general studies (72%).
The top three regret-free majors, all above 70%, are computer and information sciences, criminology, and engineering.
Graduates strongly tied their sentiments toward their majors to job prospects, ZipRecruiter found. They're also less likely to regret pursuing quantitative fields.
In contrast, humanities fields fill most of the top regretted majors, ZipRecruiter found.
Those findings mirror a May 2022 report by the Federal Reserve that found almost half the college graduates who majored in humanities regretted their major.
Should students skip studying humanities? Not necessarily, according to BestColleges senior writer Mark Drozdowski.
"Yet there's no denying that abilities honed through the study of humanities — critical thinking, written and oral communication, ethical reasoning, and persuasive argumentation — are highly valued in today's workplace," he wrote. "Students passionate about studying humanities but worried about employment prospects can craft an academic experience that satisfies both desires."