Posted on 11/29/2012 8:48:03 AM PST by Kaslin
Payscale.com analyzed the data in its online salary database and has revealed the college degrees that go along with the jobs that have the lowest median pay for their respective career professionals in its 2012-13 College Salary Report. Note - these figures represent the typical annual combination of pay, bonuses, commissions and profit sharing earned by people who have been successful in working in these fields for at least 10 years and were willing to participate in Payscale.com's survey, which means the reported median incomes will likely be inflated above each field's actual median incomes....
|
College Degree |
|
Median Annual Salary |
|---|---|---|
|
|
Child and Family Studies |
$37,700 |
|
|
Social Work |
$45,300 |
|
|
Elementary Education |
$46,000 |
|
|
Human Development |
$47,800 |
|
|
Special Education |
$48,900 |
|
|
Culinary Arts |
$49,700 |
|
|
Athletic Training |
$49,800 |
So what possesses people to take out big student loans to go into professions like these that offer such little compensation? Payscale.com offers the following insight:
"According to our research, people in these majors typically believe their work makes the world a better place," says PayScale’s lead analyst Katie Bardaro.
To translate, the people in these majors are perhaps so disconnected from reality that they do not recognize that the reason their trades provide so little return on their educational investment is because they really do not require unique ability, which is why society does not reward them with greater compensation.
These people are then exploited by the higher education establishment, which really does know better, but can't help noticing that these same people are willing to pay nearly the same amount of money for their college degrees as do people in careers that society values a lot more.
And let's not forget the role of the U.S. federal government in guaranteeing and issuing student loans, which has its own ulterior motives for pushing higher education that offers little real benefit to society.
Say what you will about the careers that go with the degrees above, but at least many of the people who pursue these degrees might actually get jobs in their fields of study, if only low paying ones. Kiplinger's Caitlin Dewey takes things several steps further and identifies the college degrees in Payscale.com's database that combine low pay with high rates of unemployment for their graduates!
Also, this isn't just an American phenomenon. Don't miss this perspective by a recent PhD graduate in Britain who complains that the "real world" doesn't understand or appreciate their skills.
Image Source: Global Elites.
I can believe that for the Special Education category. If they are going to devote their lives helping children with various disabilities, then God Bless them. Tough work, and appreciated work.
Every young man would be better off learning some “skills” than he would going to college this fall.
With the “shift” that’s coming,
growing your own food is going to be much more valuable than most of the degree offerings and the “high level indoctrination centers” these days.
That’s true about most retired teachers I know. They are living very well in their retirements. I don’t think the same will be said of the next generation of teachers.
The benes just aren’t there any more. Most jurisdictions are now hurting because they were so generous with the older generation of teachers and public servants.
My son is in the local community college, studying electrical engineering technology, and working nearly full-time at Tractor Supply. He lives at home and I am happy to have him taking his time. By the time he has a bachelor’s degree, the RATS may have finally self-destructed, and there will be jobs.
bkmk
This story was floating around FR a month ago, I think. There are soooooooo many degrees missing from the list ... all of the PC ones.
Education is an odd major. If you want to be a teacher, you would normally get a degree in some field, and then get a masters in Education.
I guess if you want to teach general elementary school, you’d get an education degree.
Interestingly, while education in general pays low for a college degree, the unemployment rate for people with education degrees is very low.
5 of the top 20 employment fields for POPULAR majorgs are education degrees; all are higher than civil engineering.
BTW, 5 of the top 7 fields are medical; the other two are agriculture and industrial production. I would NOT have guessed those last two.
My field, electrical engineering, came in 25th, tied with math and environmental science. Behind civil engineering, which in my day was the engineering field for people who couldn’t pass real engineering courses..... :-)
I can say that because my wife is a civil engineer.
BTW,the top 5 employment majors aren’t popular ones. And they include computer science, which I would have thought would be a very popular major and would not have good employment numbers because I thought there would be a glut of programmers.
Astrophysics/astronomy 0%
Geological and geophysics engineering 0%
Physical science 2.5%
Geosciences 3.2%
Math/computer science 3.5%
I wonder why every astronomy major gets a job?
How did they arrive at those figures? Those salaries are pretty good by local standards. The University of Kentucky, for example, pay less than any of those salaries above for Research Analysts or Principle Lab Techs with Master’s degrees in scientific fields.
How about salaries and employment rates for African-American Studies, Women’s Studies, Queer (their term, not mine) Studies, etc.?
Not listed is degrees in theology. Some of these people takes vows of poverty, outright. Others are doomed to poverty by their choice. Rarely do you become the pastor of a mega church.
That would be interesting to find out, but apart from a few people gaining high-paying gov. jobs off their worthless degree, I’m betting a very large majority of grads with those degrees can’t use them. I mean can anyone believe any student who would choose those areas over legitimate studies would be a good worker? If I’m an non-governmental employer, and I see some prospective hiree has a degree in any of those “studies,” they’ll get shown the door quickly. How many high school valedictorians choose the victitude degrees? I’m betting close to zero.
You’re likely correct. I started college not really knowing what I wanted to do. Not highly ambitious. I went into special education. I was able to help but remain detached enough not to feel sorry for .my students.
I home educated my kids all through school and went back to teaching. I loath public schools so I teach “at risk” teenage boys with emotional disabilities. Article says that job has no set of unique skills. Ha! Okay. I guess I’m too uneducated to know better.
Most people wouldn’t last a couple of days in here much less teach. There is a specific set of skills needed to do this job.
That’s what I’m in the process of doing. Actually, most teachers don’t require a masters in education. 4 year degree in the subject you plan to teach. :)
Money is important, but it doesn't lead to happiness in life.
Exactly. Not everyone goes into their field for the salary. In time, I knew I was made to work around children/teens with emotional disabilities. I even take less pay to work where there is no teacher union and I can actually teach and use my God given common sense.
It’s not always about the money.
I can honestly say if I lost my job....I would continue to help these boys even as a volunteer.
How much do poetry majors pull in a year?
But sadly it is coming to that—needing a masters or becoming ‘highly qualified’. I am feeling pressure to get certified in a second content area. Sp. Ed. is barely enough these days.
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