Liberal arts degrees are a waste?

Question

Im a student about 3/4 of the way through a degree program in a liberal arts/humanities field. I've been hearing on TV news stations and forums on the internet that your chances of getting a good job with a liberal arts/ humanities is not much better than your chances of becoming a famous actor. They did a report of liberal arts grads and what they are doing now. one is a substitute teacher one day a week. one is a dog walker and one works part time logging license plates that traffic cameras capture.I knew I wasnt going to be making the kind of money as your engineers and related jobs but I did expect to make at least a decent living. Better money than any contruction or skilled trade job would get. Im scared and thinking is this going to be me?should I stop and discard the hard work i've already completed? Should I go and study Business instead? should I go and get training in auto mechanics?

Answer 1

Some of the highest paying majors are liberal arts majors - like physics, math, computer science, and economics. So no, liberal arts majors are not a waste of time. However, some of them are pretty useless, and it's your own fault for not trying to figure that out before starting a program. What you should have done, and you still have some time to do, is figure out what kind of job you want to get, and then find out what major will get you there. Picking a random major isn't all that useful. There are plenty of jobs out there, but a major that didn't give you much training and a poor GPA means you're not going to get them. Business isn't any different; it's the most popular major by far, and most business majors just end up with a job that only required a generic college degree, not a specific one.

Answer 2

Depends.



Since you're 3/4 of the way to graduation, I would say, stick with your major.



You already comprehend, I assume, that you probably won't be getting a job in your field though (unless you go and get a Masters degree and become a professor). You won't be making "better money" than a trade worker - to be honest, they usually make more money than those who hold only Bachelor's degrees in the Liberal Arts (excluding the technical majors). But, if you have lots of work/volunteer experience, you should be able to at least find a job.



Do you have a minor?



If not, I would suggest minoring (double-majoring, if you can) in a practical field. A minor in Business may help but you would still need work/volunteer experience to back up your resume to stand out from the thousands of other Humanities majors. (That being said, get a summer job!) Also, I would plan on attending grad school if I were you.



Hope that helps.

Answer 3

Well it's what you want to do. If you want to be rich, you shouldn't be a philosophy major. I myself, want to work in government or go into law school thus my political science (dumb liberal arts degree) is what I need and want to do.