Now here’s an interesting article from Yahoo. Apparently someone has taken the time to compile a list of the worst-paying college degrees out there:
Yahoo: 20 Worst-Paying Degrees of 2010
I get a kick out of lists like this — especially ones that reinforce my own views on the relative value (or lack thereof) of higher education. Which is that “higher education,” in and of itself, is very rarely the Ticket to Financial Success which society makes it out to be. (Check out this article in the Harvard Business Review; the difference between “knowledge” and “skills” is immense. The higher-ed conglomerate may disperse knowledge, but usually, what employers want are skills.)
And oh yeah — if you take on lots of debt to get that higher ed, you can easily end up worse off — far worse off — than if you had no degree at all.
Because I’m lazy, I won’t reprint the whole list here. However, the top five worst-paying degrees…
| College Degree | Starting Pay | Mid-Career Pay |
| 1. Child and Family Studies | $29,500 | $38,400 |
| 2. Elementary Education | $31,600 | $44,400 |
| 3. Social Work | $31,800 | $44,900 |
| 4. Athletic Training | $32,800 | $45,700 |
| 5. Culinary Arts | $35,900 | $50,600 |
… are pretty much what I’d expect. (Wait — where is Underwater Basket Weaving?)
I do, though, have to take issue with how the author finishes out her missive:
I’m not so sure about that. I mean, politicians seem to do pretty well financially. And it’s obvious that math was never a core requisite at any point in their lives.
Jill wrote:
I totally agree that SKILLS are more important than knowledge. But I wish someone would tell the employers that! Employers, too, are being brainwashed to fall for the belief that a piece of paper is worth more than practical skills or work experience. I have had several applications rejected becuase I didn’t have the right piece of paper – even though I could match my resume to every skill they wanted. Arrgh!
James wrote:
I imagine the author mentioned taking math classes because there is a direct correlation between the amount of math classes someone takes and their salary.
http://blog.emurse.com/2009/08/21/want-to-make-more-money-take-more-math/