College majors with the highest unemployment rates

[Will E Worm]

25 college majors with the highest unemployment rates

This is part of package on college degrees and jobless rates. Read the other story: 25 college majors with the lowest jobless rates.


The worst nightmare of a college student has got to be graduating without a job. And the college major that a student selects can actually increase his or her chances of getting stuck in an unemployment line.


College majors that are hampered by high unemployment rates include a variety of psychology degrees, fine arts and architecture. The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce delved into U.S. Census Bureau statistics to determine the employment rates of 173 college majors; I crossed them against a list of the most popular college majors.

College majors with the highest unemployment

1. Clinical psychology 19.5%
2. Miscellaneous fine arts 16.2%
3. United States history 15.1%
4. Library science 15.0%
5. (tie) Military technologies; educational psychology 10.9%
6. Architecture 10.6%
7. Industrial & organizational psychology 10.4%
8. Miscellaneous psychology 10.3%
9. Linguistics & comparative literature 10.2%
10. (tie) Visual & performing arts; engineering & industrial management 9.2%
11. Engineering & industrial management 9.2%
12. Social psychology 8.8%
13. International business 8.5%
14. Humanities 8.4%
15. General social sciences 8.2%
16. Commercial art & graphic design 8.1%
17. Studio art 8.0%
18. Pre-law & legal studies 7.9%
19. Materials engineering and materials science and composition & speech (tie) 7.7%
20. Liberal arts 7.6%
21. (tie) Fine arts and genetics 7.4%
22. Film video & photography arts and cosmetology services & culinary arts (tie) 7.3%
23. Philosophy & religious studies and neuroscience (tie) 7.2%
24. Biochemical sciences 7.1%
25. (tie) Journalism and sociology 7.0%



Curse of the psychology major?


Five of the college majors with the worst job prospects on this list are related to psychology. Ironically, psychology is the fifth most popular college degree.


With the the housing market in what seems to be a never-ending funk, it's no wonder that many young architects are collecting unemployment.


I'm also not surprised by the high unemployment rate of library scientists, particularly as some colleges and other institutions are questioning the need for large expensive buildings to house collections that can be stored on computers. I happen to know a young library science major and he's been looking for at least two years for a job in that field.

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JVMN replies:
90% might find jobs, but a very large fraction (1/3 or more) of those are working at jobs unrelated to the degree. Some of those jobs don't even require a college degree, or shouldn't.

The problem in fields such as science or humanities is that even with an advanced degree, many or maybe even most graduates still cannot find jobs in the field.

While there are always success stories for a few people, most will have to take what they can get, despite years of "education," mounds of student debt, and the opportunity costs of going to college.

Looking on the bright side maybe that advanced degree will be the ticket to a manager-trainee slot at Burger Doodle.

:1orglaugh