20 Worst-Paying College Degrees in 2010

[^_^ 5,021]

Very good point...+1.

I 2x flunked 'Into to Accounting I' my freshman year before I finally 'got it' on the 3rd try. After that, I never again had any issues with any of the much more complicated accounting classes which I had to endure my way through . Without preserverance through that first class though my professional life could have/would have turned out quite differently.

Exactly.

[KaiserD 12]

Kinda sounds like you are.

Really? For someone who took out of hours classes both in school and college? A GCSE D is "technically" a passing grade but I kept retaking it because I owed it to myself to keep trying and get something acceptable. There is no way I was going to get an A or B though.

Mind you I can't take all the credit for that, I was also lucky enough to grow up in an area that took education and learning seriously and failure was less tolerated. Out of curiosity I looked up the results for Runcorn and Widnes' 2009 GCSE results, only 2 (out of 11) schools in that area got an average of A - C grades over 50% which is pretty piss poor.

[^_^ 5,021]

I need to find out what GCSE means

[KaiserD 12]

General Certificate of Secondary Education

I'm sure it has changed a bit now but when I was in school it was 8 or 9 subjects that were graded from A* - E. A couple of them included 2, like science and English Language and English Literature and there were a couple of subjects we could pick for ourselves.

[BishopM 114]

Love this clip from Adam Sandler's movie Mr. Deeds

[KaiserD 12]

Motivation

While there are still people needed in the lower paid graduate jobs, I wish schools educated people better on what it takes (in terms of connections, discipline, luck e.t.c) to actually get jobs in those fields (because they might be popular). Graphic design is a classic case - it does not take much to work out the number of graduates each year is much more than the positions available (especially when the bulk of jobs already want experience) and being saddled with debt you can't do anything with is not a clever risk to take, especially when its 4 years in the making.

The teens rolling into Gaia Online's Art Discussion forum all think once they graduate jobs will just fall into their laps. It's disheartening to see but for the most part you can't convince them otherwise, even to make a sensible back up plan for employability.

[BishopM 114]

My friend graduated with a 2 year degree in graphics art. As a result he was able to get a job 'coloring the yellow pages' of the phone book for $9/hour

My niece just started her first year of college at a For-Profit university. I worry about that too and mentioned to her Mom that I thought she'd be better served at a regionally accredited state university. She didn't want to hear that from me though...so she might not speak tot me for a few weeks I've seen some companies who would not hire right-out-of-college kids from For-Profit universities simply because of the glut of available graduates from state colleges. It may be the wrong impression, but why risk it (not to mention, as you mentioned, gathering 4 years of risky debt)?

Edited August 12, 2010 by BishopM

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

English majors FTW! Can't believe we aren't on this list.

[Empress of Groovy 373]

English majors FTW! Can't believe we aren't on this list.

That's because we're raking in the big bucks

[BishopM 114]

That's because we're raking in the big bucks

My Bro-n-law is an English major. He has been working as an independent contractor/Technical Writer for 10 years. He's in 6 figures so that ain't too bad...

[elmcitymaven 9,712]

That's because we're raking in the big bucks

Yo, represent.

[sachinky 465]

I'm actually shocked to find History and Politics majors absent from this list.

I've been preparing myself to live in a cardboard box for as long as I can remember.

My new hope is that maybe, some day, Mr. Sachinky will rake in the big bucks.

Edited August 12, 2010 by sachinky

[KaiserD 12]

Ouch. Let's hope she gave it some more thought behind closed doors

It seems that getting your proverbial foot in the door is still the hardest part, there is room for your friend to make more later but they sure don't pay much to begin with.

I've done a fair amount of research about college options and while I don't know if this is true for all (or even most) degrees, unless you are going to a college that really speaks for itself (and has a price tag to match) then you may as well get state tuition. It really did not take long to find this out so why do parents still advocate (and brace themselves) for such highly priced education with not much to its name?

Is it a case of they still want to believe in the image of vast opportunities that the US is said to offer?

[Gemmie 142]

Graphic design is a classic case - it does not take much to work out the number of graduates each year is much more than the positions available (especially when the bulk of jobs already want experience) and being saddled with debt you can't do anything with is not a clever risk to take, especially when its 4 years in the making.

Yeah, my husband took that risk, did a 2-year degree thinking he would be able to get into games, media, etc. He's never been able to use it because there is way too much competition and they all want years of experience. I'm really surprised it's not higher on the list. He's now working in an office and wishing he never went near Graphic Design.

My psychology degree is offering me jack $hit right now because all of the positions are filled, but I'm not under the illusion that it's a worthless subject as I've heard people say over here. I've been looking at options for months and if there's a position available, that degree can take you far.

[mawilson 2,133]

Even when the major requires a FAIR amount of math, compettion for available positions (post graduatuion) is still challenging.

Yes, good spelling is also important.

Edited August 12, 2010 by mawilson