What you study is more important than where you study
Tools to help you choose a major, education or training program
Right now, people like you are making education decisions – incoming high school seniors, 1st and 2nd year college students, and those contemplating career change.
While you may worry about who will accept you, bombarded with marketing for choosing the right college or education provider, the reality is your choice of postsecondary program has greater impact on your future earnings and well-being than the choice of college. Few people know this, but Gallup found that 10 years after graduation, the choice of college doesn’t affect your well-being (yes, including Ivy Leaguers!).
Notable exceptions: for-profit colleges and the worst-performing non-profit colleges in retention and completion (see links below for the Scorecard and return on investment (ROI) reports at Georgetown University’s CEW). These are more likely to negatively impact your well-being.
If you’d like to spend more time exploring your major, education or training program options to find your best match, we can help.
Great tools to research majors and programs
Linking college majors to careers with Field of Degree – Occupational Outlook Handbook
College Scorecard (field of study filter, comparing colleges offering the same major)
Although it has some great information you won’t get elsewhere, remember the Scorecard’s limitations. Median pay for graduates can be very short term (1 year after graduation). Earnings for liberal arts majors catch up over 10 years, and when compared with some popular majors, may surpass them in the long run. (Think slow and steady wins the race) Picking a program based on post-graduation median pay instead of what genuinely interests you is a mistake.
Economic Value of Majors and similar reports at Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce.
References:
“Great Jobs Great Lives: the 2014 Gallup-Purdue Index Report” (2014, 2016)
“Equitable Value: Promoting Economic Mobility and Social Justice through Postsecondary Education” Postsecondary Value Commission: What is College Worth? Institute of Higher Education Policy and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, (May 2021)
