[Alupis]

> * But pick a major that will pay for itself, and try not to rack up $50k in student loans

I think this is a societal issue rather than an education issue.

We're so quick to encourage people to achieve a degree in whatever makes them happy, even say Art History or Medieval European History, knowing full well that the prospects of gaining a decent paying job after school is practically zero.

How does that Art History major repay a $30K student loan when they can realistically only get a $30K a year salaried job?

Should't we as a society encourage people to major in things that will pay off in the end? Or instead deny loans to degree programs that statistically are turning out far too many candidates for a very small field (leading to massive unemployment for that degree program)?

[chrisseaton]

This is such nonsense! You can do almost anything you want with an Art History or Medieval European History degree. Do you think there's some kind of requirement that you can only take a job in the field you studied? I have friends who did degrees in Theology who went into banking and insurance and make several times what I do with my Computer Science degree.

[FLUX-YOU]

With today's college prices, it's a bit silly to play chicken with your financial life vs. the job market

It'd stand to reason that you could make that much, if not more, than your friends because you have a technical degree. I know this is more about having a job than not, but the technical degree would also improve your chances vs. your friends

[chrisseaton]

> It'd stand to reason that you could make that much, if not more, than your friends because you have a technical degree.

Yeah that's my point. The jobs those chose were open to (very talented people) who studied any degree - Computer Science, Theology, whatever. There are thousands of well-paying and very well-paying jobs that are similarly open to any degrees.

[analog31]

How does that Art History major repay a $30K student loan when they can realistically only get a $30K a year salaried job?

Thinking about it from a different angle, how does a CS major repay a $30k student loan if they were under pressure to choose a lucrative major, hated programming to the point of never getting good at it, and couldn't conjure up the motivation to compete with the kids who were in it for fun?

In addition, for a lot of kids, a technical major isn't an option because they don't have the math background.

Now, do they major in art history anyway? That's a whole 'nother ball o' wax.