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Get Paid What You’re Worth: The Expert Negotiators’ Guide to Salary and Compensation

One of Web Watch’s happiest days was the one where we wrote our final student loan payment check and sent it off.

We were finally free!

Today’s college students owe an average of $25,250 in student debt – along with high unemployment for when they do get out of school with their degree.  So it’s imperitive to be thinking ahead in terms of what degree are you trying to earn, and counterbalance that with the real-world scenario of what those jobs will actually pay you once you begin your work life.

Employers are always talking about how today’s coddled college students are coming in for job interviews and asking (demanding, even) salaries in the 50’s, 60’s, and 80’s.  Fresh faces out of school might not be able to make such demands — especially if they haven’t choosen their career path wisely.

Incorrect expectations, it seems.

Panicked Student’s Guide to Choosing a College Major: How to Confidently Pick Your Ideal Path

Web Watch remembers we had difficulty choosing our college major.

We certainly wanted an easy path (hey, who wants to work hard while in college?). But the selections that were offered were not necessarily in any direction that we wanted to take.

So we ended up with a major and two minors, all of which are not at all where we ended up going as a career — so it really didn’t matter what we choose.  And years later, after you’ve established yourself in a successful job, what you did in college really doesn’t have any affect anymore… well, except what you post on Facebook, which will follow you to your grave.

But one thing that college students should look at when choosing a potential major is whether they’ll be able to get a job right out of college with it.  Sadly, not all majors will lead to that initial lucrative paycheck that can help you begin paying back your student loans.

Here’s a list of the 25 college majors that have the highest unemployment rate, courtesy of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.  Here are the top (worst) 15:

1. Clinical psychology – 19.5%
2. Miscellaneous fine arts – 16.2%
3. United States history – 15.1%
4. Library science – 15.0%

   Yeah, take a look at the dropoff in percentages here.  From 15% to just under 11%.  Those top four major choices may be ones you want to avoid unless you already have a hookup.

5. (tie) Military technologies; educational psychology – 10.9%
6. Architecture – 10.6%
7. Industrial & organizational psychology – 10.4%
8. Miscellaneous psychology – 10.3%
9. Linguistics & comparative literature – 10.2%
10. (tie) Visual & performing arts; engineering & industrial management – 9.2%
11. Engineering & industrial management – 9.2%
12. Social psychology – 8.8%
13. International business – 8.5%
14. Humanities – 8.4%
15. General social sciences – 8.2%

So what majors SHOULD a college student pick if they want to make some immediate cash?  It might be worth checking out the 25 majors with the lowest unemployment rates.  The top (best) 15 are:

1. Medical technology technician – 1.4%
2. Nursing – 2.2%
3. Treatment therapy professions – 2.6%
4. Medical assisting services – 2.9%
5. Agriculture production & management – 3.0%
6. Industrial production technologies – 3.1%
7. Pharmacy – 3.2%
8. Communications & disorders sciences – 3.3%
9. Elementary education – 3.6%
10. Special needs education – 3.6%
11. Miscellaneous education – 3.7%
12. Mechanical engineering – 3.8%
13. High school teacher – 3.8%
14. Theology & religious vocations – 4.1%
15. Management info systems & statistics – 4.2%