Why Some Degrees Are Seen as Worthless? (In-Depth Guide)
Choosing a college major is an important decision that affects your career opportunities and earning potential.
However, not all degrees are created equal when it comes to job prospects and return on investment.
Some degrees are considered “worthless” because they offer poor career advancement, low salaries, and struggle with high unemployment rates.
Understanding which degrees are worthless can help you make a smart decision when selecting your field of study.
This guide examines common worthless degrees, reasons to avoid them, and tips on choosing a viable major that leads to promising career opportunities.
Common Worthless Degrees to Avoid Fine Arts
Pursuing a degree in fine arts, including visual arts, fashion design, graphic design, interior design, and photography can be risky.
These artistic fields struggle with high unemployment rates, low wages, and steep competition for a limited number of jobs.
The most recent data shows an unemployment rate of over 7% for fine artists. Graduates often end up working jobs unrelated to their field of study just to pay off debts from four years of schooling.
Fine arts graduates also deal with lower average starting salaries.
Music & Music Performance
A passion for music is common, but the reality is that breakout success in performance or composition is extremely rare. Programs focused on music performance or composition leave graduates underprepared for steady employment.
Music industry jobs remain competitive, even if you have a degree. And music teachers at K-12 schools need teaching credentials beyond a music degree. This makes it a risky choice with little career payoff.
Philosophy & Religious Studies
Degrees in philosophy teach strong critical thinking skills but offer few direct career pathways outside academia. Religious studies degrees also provide little tangible career preparation.
Unemployment rates have topped 10% for recent graduates in these fields. Job prospects are largely limited to low-paying positions or pursuing further higher education.
Overall, these impractical majors give graduates limited opportunities while carrying the same large tuition fees.
Photography
A degree in photography can be appealing for visually creative students. However, the ubiquity of digital photography and editing software makes this field extremely competitive.
There are limited career prospects beyond freelance photography or portrait photography studios. Even established positions like photojournalism are on the decline.
With so much competition, it becomes nearly impossible to find full-time photography work to justify the tuition investment.
Liberal Arts & Humanities
Liberal arts or humanities programs teach writing skills and subjects like literature, language, philosophy, and history.
However, these broadly focused programs lack the specialization needed for most career paths.
Unemployment for recent liberal arts graduates has averaged around 6%. Students drawn to these areas are better suited choosing specialized majors and tailoring electives to their interests, rather than purely liberal arts degrees.
Communications & Journalism
Communications and journalism are popular fields, but the collapse of print journalism and decline of traditional media have diminished career prospects.
Some communications subfields like technical writing remain promising. However, broad programs struggle with bleak job opportunities despite large numbers of graduates each year.
Between increasing enrollment and declining jobs, new graduates end up either unemployed or settling for low-paying positions.
Additional training is often needed to find meaningful work in these saturated areas.
Why Some Degrees Are Seen as Worthless
There are a few key reasons why the degrees listed above end up not being worth the investment:
Low Career Prospects After Graduation
A worthless degree often translates to limited job opportunities in your specific field of study.
Certain majors like fine arts or religious studies have few direct career pathways for utilizing your specialized degree after graduation.
High Unemployment Rates
Worthless degrees tend to have significantly higher unemployment rates for recent graduates.
Programs with poor job prospects often exceed 7-8% unemployment, much higher than the national unemployment rate.
Lower Salaries & Earning Potential
Graduates from worthless degree programs also deal with lower average starting salaries and slower salary growth. When job competition is high, employers can offer lower wages.
Lack of Specialized Skills
Broad liberal arts or communications programs tend to teach generalized skills instead of career-focused skills.
This leaves graduates at a disadvantage compared to job candidates who have technical skills or training.
Steep Competition After Graduation
Some worthless degrees like photography or music face extreme competition.
Graduates end up fighting for scarce job openings or low-paying freelance gigs.
Heavy Reliance on Freelancing & Self-Employment
For degrees like arts, photography, or music, freelancing may be the only potential career path…and an unreliable source of income.
Pursuing full-time creative careers remains extremely competitive even for graduates.
The common thread is that these worthless degrees all lack career opportunities to match the time and tuition investment.
Signs That a Degree Is Worthless
How can you identify if a college major risks being worthless before committing? Here are key warning signs:
- Extremely high unemployment rate
- Low starting salaries & slow salary growth
- Few direct career pathway options
- Lack of demand for skills learned
- Steep competition for limited openings
- Heavy reliance on unstable freelancing
Degrees with one or more of these issues can place graduates in difficult situations.
Avoiding these high-risk majors cuts down on the chance of investing time and tuition into an ineffective degree.
Tips on Choosing a Worthwhile Degree
You don’t have to settle for a worthless degree to pursue your interests. Here is advice on selecting a promising, career-ready major:
Research Employment Outlooks
Look at job growth projections over the next 5-10 years for potential degree programs using resources like the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Find stable or fast-growing career fields so demand remains strong.
Understand Entry Requirements
Some degrees require extra certification or credentials to unlock key career pathways. Teaching degrees need teaching certificates. Nursing requires passing registration exams. Account for these extra requirements.
Tailor Interests Into Specialized Majors
Turn general interests into focused degrees that teach transferable skills.
Example: Major in technical writing or graphic design instead of general communications or art.
Consider Combined & Interdisciplinary Programs
Combine interests into crossover degrees like art therapy or music therapy with better job outlooks. Or tailor a specialized major across disciplines.
Treat Passion as a Minor, Major in Practicality
Pursue impractical interests like music or art as electives or a minor to a practical major.
This mixes passion with pragmatism.
Analyze Starting vs Mid-Career Salaries By Degree
Compare both starting and mid-career salary averages to other majors.
Worthwhile degrees offer better lifetime earnings in addition to entry-level pay.Following this advice steers you away from worthless degrees to promising, career-ready programs aligned to your interests and strengths.
Common Questions About Worthless Degrees
Are art degrees worthless?
Art degrees can be high risk due to low job prospects and high competition.
However, specialized technical skills like graphic design, art therapy, or UX design offer better outcomes for creatively-minded students.
Treat passion as a minor to a practical major as a balanced approach.
What college degree makes the most money?
The highest paying college majors focus on STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) fields.
Examples include engineering, computer science, information technology, data science, software engineering, applied mathematics, physics, actuarial science, statistics, and finance or accounting.
These degrees offer strong employment demand and high lifetime earnings potential.
Is a photography degree useless?
Yes, broad photography degrees often lack career opportunities worth justifying heavy tuition costs. However, tailoring photography skills into commercial, scientific, or technical photography improves outcomes. Combining photography with practical majors like marketing or graphic design works too.
Should I get a communications degree?
General communications degrees face bleak job prospects so demand is questionable.
However, strategic communications degrees like technical writing, medical writing, public relations, marketing, or journalism have direct career pathways.
Focus on these specialized niches instead of mass communication.
Is a psychology degree useless?
No, psychology degrees have practical applications in fields like clinical therapy, counseling, user experience (UX) research, behavioral analysis, and more.
However, most careers require graduate studies like a Master’s degree or PhD on top of an undergraduate psychology degree.
Conclusion
Some degrees offer disappointing career prospects and earning potential given steep tuition costs.
Fine arts, music, photography, liberal arts, philosophy, religious studies, and general communications programs often run into these issues.
By researching employment outlooks, tailoring interests into specialized majors, considering interdisciplinary programs, and analyzing salaries by degree, students can avoid these high-risk “worthless” degrees.
Instead, they can focus on promising career-ready fields aligned to personal interests and strengths. With careful degree selection, you can gain skills that translate into professional success.
