15 academic degrees with declining job prospects

The American higher education landscape is experiencing a dramatic shift. While college degrees have traditionally served as a gateway to career success, recent data reveals a troubling reality.

According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, in the second quarter of 2025, the underemployment rate for recent college graduates was just above 41%. During the same period, the unemployment rate for graduates aged 22 to 27 averaged 5.3%.

So yeah, choosing the “wrong” degree could leave you with a story that sounds like “I studied passions, now I have ramen nights.” But don’t freak out: this isn’t about doom and gloom.

It’s about being smart, informed, and ready for the real world. So here are 15 academic degrees with declining job prospects, and why you should give them a hard look (or at least have a solid backup plan).

Anthropology

You love people and cultures, and discovering how ancient civilizations survived without Wi-Fi —who wouldn’t? But here’s the kicker: anthropology majors currently hold the highest unemployment rate of any major at 9.4%, according to Forbes.

Most graduates end up in jobs that have nothing to do with anthropology, because, well, there just aren’t many openings for full-time anthropologists outside academia. Nearly half of them go on to grad school hoping to improve their odds, but the struggle continues.

Think of it as studying ancient societies, only to realize your own modern one isn’t hiring. Still, if you’re obsessed with humanity’s weirdness (and who isn’t?), combine anthropology with data analysis or public health.

Now that’s a combo employers actually get excited about.

Art History

Art History is the degree that lets you sound cultured at dinner parties and cry quietly at your student loan statements. With an 8% unemployment rate and over 60% underemployment, art history majors face some tough odds.

Sarah Calderón, executive director of Creatives Rebuild New York, emphasized the systemic issues: “Fundamentally, our economy doesn’t view artists as workers. For this reason, among others, there is no wage protection, paid or even affordable healthcare options. Or any other elements of the social safety net that are afforded to other classes of workers”.​

English Language and Literature

English majors are word wizards, masters of nuance, grammar, and the Oxford comma — but sadly, employers aren’t lining up to pay for beautifully written essays.

These grads face unemployment above the college-average and some of the lowest starting salaries of any major. The good news? Writing, communication, and critical thinking never go out of style.

The trick is to package them right: think editing, copywriting, or digital storytelling. And hey, being able to roast bad grammar online is a transferable skill, right?

Liberal Arts

The Liberal Arts major is versatile but not always the sharpest tool for employers. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that liberal arts grads have a whopping 56.5% underemployment rate.

Why? Because the field’s beauty (its flexibility) is also its curse, grads scatter across every possible industry without a clear niche. You might find yourself competing with specialized degree holders who can prove exactly what they can do.

If you love broad learning, great, but make sure you add a skill that’s in demand, like data analysis, project management, or digital communication. It’s all about turning “I learned everything” into “I can do this specific thing.”

Physics

Surprised? You should be. Physics, often seen as the poster child for STEM power, actually has a 7.8% unemployment rate, according to Forbes. It turns out that most employers don’t know what to do with someone who can explain quantum tunneling but can’t, you know, use Excel.

It’s interesting to note that nearly 68% of physics graduates go on to pursue graduate degrees. This really highlights how a bachelor’s degree alone might not be enough to fully prepare you for the job market, according to Entrepreneur.

Computer Engineering

Okay, this one’s wild, computer engineering grads earn a stellar $80,000 early in their careers and a cool $122,000 mid-career, yet the unemployment rate still hovers around 7.5%. How is that even possible?

Oxford Economics explains that a “Higher unemployment among recent college graduates is primarily a function of a structural shift in hiring in the tech sector amid strong labor supply growth.

You’re competing with robots and other humans, fun times, right? If this is your dream field, double down on AI ethics, cybersecurity, or hardware innovation so you’re leading the tech revolution, not losing to it.

Criminal Justice

Criminal justice graduates have low unemployment, but the highest underemployment rate of all majors. Translation: yes, you’ll get a job — just not necessarily one that needs a four-year degree.

Many roles in law enforcement or corrections don’t actually require a college degree, leaving grads technically “employed” but underpaid for their education.

If you’re drawn to justice, aim higher; roles in cybersecurity, forensic analysis, or federal investigation actually offer significant rewards. Otherwise, you might find yourself guarding a paycheck that doesn’t fit the bill.

Commercial Art and Graphic Design

So you want to make things look beautiful for a living? Awesome, know you’ll be up against Canva, Figma, and about a million freelancers charging $5 on Fiverr.

Commercial art and graphic design majors currently face 7.2% unemployment, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics predicts only 2% job growth through 2034. That’s slower than the national average.

Still, don’t lose hope. If you pick up UX design, animation, or web development, you’ll boost your odds big time. The field’s evolving, not dying, you just need to evolve faster than the apps that threaten to replace you.

History

History buffs love diving into the past, but sadly, the job market lives in the present. The degree’s broad nature means few employers are explicitly looking for historians, and many grads drift toward teaching or admin roles that require extra certification.

The result? Many grads work in jobs that don’t even need a college degree. Pair it with museum studies, education, or even law, and suddenly your knowledge of revolutions might help you start your own (career one, that is).

Fine Arts

If art feeds your soul but not your wallet, you’re in good company. ARTnews reports that Fine Arts majors have a 55.5% underemployment rate and earn an average of about $38,000 early in their careers, among the lowest salaries across all majors.

Yet according to Fortune, most artists are actually happy with their choices. Go figure. Maybe it’s because creating something from nothing is its own reward (or maybe it’s all the exposure to paint fumes).

Either way, if you want to succeed, focus on building a strong online brand or merging art with design tech; that’s where creativity meets cash flow.

Sociology

Sociology is one of those majors that teaches you how society works, just not necessarily how your paycheck will. Graduates often find that employers don’t quite know where sociologists fit, leading to an identity crisis of sorts in the job market.

The skills are valuable, but unless you package them for industries like public policy or marketing, you’ll blend into the generic job crowd. It’s not that sociology is useless; it’s that it needs translation.

So if you choose it, learn to connect the dots between social theory and real-world problems that companies actually pay to solve.

Computer Science

Wait, what? Computer Science, the golden ticket of the 2010s, is now flashing warning lights? Yep. Forbes found the unemployment rate jumped from under 4% in 2022 to nearly 6% in 2023.

Between 2009 and 2023, the number of CS, statistics, and mathematics students exploded by 159%, which means supply is catching up fast with demand. As Ban Cheah from Georgetown’s Center on Education and the Workforce puts it: “High unemployment doesn’t always go hand-in-hand with low earnings — and vice versa.”

The fix? Specialize in AI, cybersecurity, cloud architecture, and anything that screams “not replaceable by ChatGPT.”

Mass Media and Journalism

Once upon a time, journalism was a stable, respected career. Now? Between layoffs, newsroom closures, and AI writing half the internet, it’s a survival game.

Traditional media outlets have shrunk while digital content has exploded, creating thousands of unpaid “content creator” gigs and fewer full-time reporting roles.

The field is reinventing itself, but it’s messy. If storytelling is in your DNA, pivot toward digital media, podcasting, or data-driven journalism. The future favors adaptable storytellers, not nostalgic ones.

Performing Arts

Performing arts majors are used to taking the stage; unfortunately, the stage doesn’t always pay rent. Many grads do find jobs quickly, but not in the roles they trained for.

In fact, most end up working in positions that don’t require a degree at all, leading to some of the highest underemployment rates among all creative fields.

If you’re passionate, go for it, but learn business management or media production so you can create opportunities instead of waiting for auditions to save you.

Chemistry

This is one of those degrees that sounds like it should be a guaranteed ticket to success, right? After all, chemistry is everywhere, from the food we eat to the medicine we take to the cleaning products under your sink.

It’s the backbone of the scientific world. So, why aren’t chemistry grads faring as well as you might expect? Here’s the thing: the job market is tough, and chemistry grads are finding themselves in an increasingly saturated field, competing for fewer and fewer roles.

Conclusion

So, my friend, the point isn’t that college is a scam; it’s that the world changed, and your major should keep up. The Federal Reserve Bank of New York data shows that degrees still matter, just not equally.

Passion is great, but strategy is better. Pair what you love with what the market values, learn real-world skills, and keep adapting. If you do that, you’ll be more than a statistic.

You’ll be the person everyone else calls for career advice. And trust me, that feels way better than another bowl of ramen.

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