Hard Times, a new study from Georgetown University’s Center for Education and the Workforce, found that obtaining a bachelor’s degree “is still worth it”, as described in the Inside Higher Ed article: “Recent Grads in Health, Education Most Likely to be Employed“. The study notes that not all college degrees are created equal, examining how unemployment and earnings correlate to college majors. The study identifies several factors that undergraduate students should consider when determining their educational path:

• Unemployment rates among recent college graduates vary by major.
• Industries that have low unemployment rates (and industries that have been the most stable employers for recent college graduates) include: education (5.4% unemployment), healthcare (5.4%), business (7.4%), psychology and social work (7.3%), and life and physical sciences (7.7%).
• The majors with the highest earnings among recent and experienced college graduates include: engineering, computer and mathematics, and business.
• Minus a few exceptions, graduate education increases earning potential.

To learn more, read the study. In contrast to the outlook for workers with bachelor’s degrees, Northeastern University’s Center for Labor Market Studies recently published a research brief on the impacts of students dropping out of high school, in which the authors Andrew Sum, Ishwar Khatiwada, Joseph McLaughlin, and Sheila Palma note: “Those adults who fail to graduate from high school with a diploma face enormous obstacles in achieving adequate employment, earnings, and incomes over their entire adult life. The costs of dropping out of high school have increased over time for both the dropouts themselves and for society at large in the form of reduced federal, state, and local taxes and increased expenditures on dropouts in the form of cash and in-kind transfers.” Read more here: High School Dropouts in Chicago and Illinois: The Growing Labor Market, Income, Civic, Social and Fiscal Costs of Dropping Out of High School. Learn more about the 28 undergraduate degree programs offered by Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies.

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Northeastern University’s College of Professional Studies (CPS) is committed to providing career-focused educational programs that are designed to accommodate the complex lives of motivated learners. Offered in a variety of innovative formats, CPS courses are taught by accomplished scholars and practitioners who have real-world experience. The result is an educational experience founded on proven scholarship, strengthened with practical application, and sustained by academic excellence. Northeastern University is a global university with a tradition of partnership and engagement that creates an innovative, distinctive approach to education and research. Northeastern integrates classroom studies with experiential learning opportunities in 70 countries, and pursues use-inspired research with a focus on global challenges in health, security, and sustainability.