BEST COLLEGE MAJORS FOR EMPLOYMENT

With more and more stories reporting a lack of jobs for college graduates, I found a Townhall.com article that reported the results of research from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Northeastern University that addresses the problem. We have all heard stories of graduates moaning about their huge student loan obligations and the lack of available jobs. Obviously that problem is frequently self-induced, because many students achieved degrees in fields and specialties that simply are not hiring, particularly during the current economic downturn.

The report indicates that the median salary dropped to $27,000 for 2009-2010 college graduates from $30,000 in the 2006-2008 period. The Labor Department announced that the jobless rate for younger workers with college degrees is currently 6.4% and it was only 3.5% as recently as 2007. This computes to about 3.5 million ex-students “underutilized” in government-speak terms.

Important to note are the ten best degree categories with low to no unemployment rates:

1. Actuarial Sciences - 0 percent
2. Astronomy and Astrophysics - 0 percent
3. Educational Administration and Supervision - 0 percent
4. Geological and Geophysical Engineering - 0 percent
5. Pharmacology - 0 percent
6. School Student Counseling - 0 percent
7. Agricultural Economic - 1.3 percent
8. Medical Technologies Technicians - 1.4 percent
9. Atmospheric Sciences and Meteorology - 1.6%
10. Environmental Engineering, Nursing, and Nuclear Industrial Radiology and Biological Technologies - 2.2 percent

Considering this research, the student loan problems appear to be self-induced or the product of poor student counseling that has steered students into fields of study with limited or no employment opportunities. It also strikes your Commander that the fields of study listed above require a substantial effort to successfully complete and that could be another causal factor leading to the unemployment line in easier or the latest fad fields of study.

COMMANDER GRANGER