- Posted by John on February 4, 2008
Choosing a college major is a difficult and stressful decision for some people. Additionally, once chosen, many students change majors at least once before settling on a degree. For those of you going through such a decision, it can be helpful to remember that a major is not a final decision on your career.
Many students immediately or soon after graduating end up in a career unrelated to their major. A study in 1997 by the U.S. Department of Education's National Center for Education Statistics discovered that only 55 percent of graduates were in jobs related to their major field of study within 4 years after obtaining a bachelor's degree. Additionally, most people change jobs many times throughout their careers.
Once out of school, a number of reasons can cause a graduate to enter another field:
- New job opportunities are created by the marketplace
- Graduate degrees in other subjects can lead to career changes
- Graduates may find they do not enjoy the career they anticipated
- Graduates may find skills they did not realize they had
Despite the fact that your career may take you into different fields, many of the skills you may learn in college apply to different fields. Simply having a college degree in any field opens up a tremendous amount of careers and career advancement opportunities. Keeping these facts in mind may help make deciding on a major a little easier for college students.