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By Suzanne Blake
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A college education is seen by many as a pathway to career success and a higher salary, but certain majors may actually leave you at risk of being unemployed, or at best underemployed.
Underemployment is when college graduates are unable to land jobs that match their educational credentials, pushing them into lower-skilled roles instead.
A new report from education research group Degreechoices found criminal justice graduates had the highest levels of underemployment at 71.5 percent. Performing arts, art history, hospitality and liberal arts majors trailed shortly after.
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The unemployment rates for all the majors were relatively high as well. Criminal justice had an unemployment rate of 2.8 percent. The other degrees ranged between 4 and 8 percent.
One expert told Newsweek that the study showed college was no longer a sure path to a well-paying job and urged students to consider how much debt they are taking on in return for a degree with poor career prospects.
Degreechoices' study was based on 2022 data from the New York Fed on the share of graduates working in jobs that do not require a college degree after graduating college with a certain major.
Underemployability was also in part defined by the median wage for each college degree for both early and mid-career graduates.
The list of the top five most underemployed majors was as follows: criminal justice, performing arts, art history, leisure and hospitality and liberal arts.
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The median wage for a criminal justice degree was $41,000 for those in their early career.
Performing arts majors had even lower early-career median wages of $38,000, an underemployment rate of 65.9 percent, and an unemployment rate of 5.5 percent.
Art history majors came next with early-career median wages of $41,000, an underemployment rate of 62.3 percent, and an unemployment rate of 8.0 percent.
Leisure and hospitality majors had early-career median wages of $39,700, an underemployment rate of 57.6 per cent, and an unemployment rate of 4.1 percent.
Finally, liberal arts majors had early-career median wages of $38,000, an underemployment rate of 56.7 percent, and an unemployment rate of 7.9 percent.
"This research highlights the importance of understanding the career prospects associated with different college degrees," a spokesperson for Degreechoices said in a statement. "With Criminal Justice graduates experiencing the highest levels of underemployment at 71.5 percent, it is crucial for students to be informed about potential job market challenges they may face upon graduation."
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HR consultant Bryan Driscoll said students continue to be pushed into certain career fields that fail to live up to their price tags.
"Criminal justice, for example, is high on the list because it's sold as a path to law enforcement or legal careers," Driscoll told Newsweek. "But the reality is that many of these jobs pay poorly and offer little room for advancement. When you're trained for a narrow industry, you're stuck if the job market shifts or those fields become oversaturated, as they often do."
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Driscoll urged students to question what they're being sold before deciding on a major.
"College isn't a path to a job like it used to be," Driscoll said. "And when that path now leads to massive debt and limited opportunities, then maybe it's the system that needs fixing."
Currently, Americans hold roughly $1.75 trillion in student loan debt, but President Joe Biden has approved various forms of loan forgiveness.
"Most of the majors among the top 10 have struggled for years with both unemployment and underemployment," Alex Beene, a financial literacy instructor for the University of Tennessee at Martin, told Newsweek.
"Some jobs, like those in the performing and fine arts, aren't as easy to obtain and can ultimately lead the graduate with that degree to rely on other endeavors to supplement their income"
For criminal justice majors specifically, jobs are not necessarily hard to obtain, but there are other issues driving the under-employability, Beene said.
"Many facilities are desperately promoting to attain new talent. It has more to do with the stress of those roles, mixed with long hours and income that while decent seems inadequate given the numerous responsibilities required," Beene said.
Are you studying one of these majors? If you'd like to share your story, please get in touch with s.blake@newsweek.com.
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