Research has indicated that first-generation students from lower- and middle-class households are more likely to select business, science, and technology degree majors than their more affluent peers. This makes logical sense, as these first-generation students perceive college as career preparation and a path into a solidly middle-class future. Affluent students are more likely to study the humanities and more likely to perceive college as a marker, regardless of the degree major completed.
This class distinction among majors is reflected by success stories of humanities majors — look at where many of these individuals attended school. Any degree from an Ivy League university corresponds to higher earning potential than a degree from a non-elite state or private university. Philosophy majors from Harvard and Yale have degrees from Harvard and Yale. That prestige matters within our culture and globally.
Studying a STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) field offers more financial security, as revealed by student loan default rates of students. As the chart accompanying this post illustrates, a humanities major from a non-selective college is 50 percent more likely to experience loan default than a STEM major from a similar college.
Notice how much lower the default rates are for selective colleges and universities. Employers pay these graduates higher starting salaries and are more likely to promote these graduates.
Do elite schools better prepare students or are the students already more financially secure? That’s also a question to explore within the data.
When we see stories suggesting the value of humanities degrees, there are good reasons for our students to doubt the value of those anecdotes. Students realize that where you go to school matters, followed by the degree you complete.
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