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How Important Is Declaring a College Major?

How Important Is A College Major?
How Important Is A College Major?

Did you agonize over your college major, setting the course of your life at age 17 and based on what your parents wanted?

This might depress or encourage you, depending on what you picked.

Turns out, only 27 percent of graduates from four-year colleges end up in jobs connected to their college majors, according to a 2014 study by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.

Now, North Carolina State University in Raleigh is trying to help students connect with their future careers. This fall, the university is offering workshops to help 30 juniors and seniors “design their lives ... for what the world needs more of" as inspired by a popular class at the Design School at Stanford University in California.

At North Carolina State, three college deans will teach the workshops, offering expertise in humanities, business management and design.

“I would say first, don’t worry that you don’t have everything that other people seem to have," says Jeff Braden, who will teach the humanities portion. "I think that there is a real tendency among people of our undergraduates’ generation to think everyone else has it all figured out. And they don’t.”

Watching on social media, many young people think others are doing better than they are, Braden says.

“On Facebook, you only see what I put up there," he explains. "You don’t see all the private things,” which might not be as rosy.

Braden suggests that students who are trying to suss out careers in growth sectors, look at work that cannot be done by machines or computers.

He also suggests jobs that deal with questions that are a “little fuzzy,” meaning those that require critical analysis or creativity that machines cannot yet solve.

Annette Ranft, the North Carolina State business management dean, says students should think beyond their first jobs after college. Unlike their grandparents, today’s college graduates are not likely to stay in a job for their entire lives, or even more than five years. She said she hopes students will look toward “lifelong professional goals.”

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median number of years that workers stayed on a job was 4.2 years in January 2016. That was down from 4.6 years in 2014.

“The day of someone working at the same job for his or her entire life are over,” Braden said.

According to a Gallup survey in June, 51 percent of Americans would change at least one of their educational decisions, including their degree, institution or major. (Read our report: Many Americans regret their College Choices)

The research, a collaboration between Gallup and Strada Education Network, found that 36 percent of Americans say they would change their field of study, while 28 percent said they would choose a different school or university.

Twelve percent said they would get a different type of degree.

What about liberal arts majors?

As careers in STEM, science - technology, engineering and mathematics - have taken the world by storm, students of liberal arts - literature, psychology, political science, philosophy and sociology - have worried about where they will fit into the job world.

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that engineering majors garner the highest average salary after graduation, $92,000. The major with the lowest annual salary was visual and performing arts, $50,700.

But liberal arts majors need not worry, says a report by the jobs website Monster.com.

Liberal arts majors bring needed skills to jobs in technology, marketing and business operations, among others, it says.

“That's because your studies have taught you how to think critically, research thoroughly, and write well, all of which are skills any employer will value,” the Monster.com report says.

Braden says that parents worry about their students majoring in liberal arts or humanities. He asks worried parents what their major was in college.

"I majored in English, but now I’m in sales,” Braden says, repeating the parent before responding. “OK, thank you, you just proved my point."

Did you have a hard time choosing your major? Please share your suggestion in the Comments here, and visit us on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and LinkedIn, thanks!

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Many African students are experiencing US visa rejections

FILE - Students walk to and from classes on the Indiana University campus, Oct. 14, 2021, in Bloomington, Ind.
FILE - Students walk to and from classes on the Indiana University campus, Oct. 14, 2021, in Bloomington, Ind.

In 2022, 71% of student visa applications from Western Africa were rejected.

Visa agents are not happy – and are finding ways to help applicants with paperwork and the interview. Maina Wururu reports for The PIE News. (April 2024)

US college students face muted graduations amid Gaza war protests

US college students face muted graduations amid Gaza war protests
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Commencement ceremonies are being scaled back or canceled at U.S. universities because of security concerns over pro-Palestinian student protests. While some campus demonstrations have resulted in concessions, others have led to violent confrontations. VOA’s Tina Trinh has the story from New York.

update

Police arrest 33 at George Washington University protest encampment

In this photo taken from video, demonstrators protest the Israel-Hamas war at the George Washington University campus in Washington on May 8, 2024. Police say they arrested 33 people while clearing out an encampment on campus.
In this photo taken from video, demonstrators protest the Israel-Hamas war at the George Washington University campus in Washington on May 8, 2024. Police say they arrested 33 people while clearing out an encampment on campus.

Police in Washington cleared a pro-Palestinian protest encampment at George Washington University early Wednesday, arresting 33 people, authorities said.

Arrests were made on charges of assault on a police officer and unlawful entry, the District of Columbia's Metropolitan Police Department said.

A congressional committee canceled a hearing on the university encampment Wednesday. D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser and Washington Police Chief Pamela Smith had been scheduled to testify about the city’s handling of the protest before the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

University parents and faculty members gathered Wednesday afternoon for a press conference to condemn the handling of the protests by police and school leaders.

Hala Amer, mother of a George Washington University student, speaks at a press conference with faculty and alumni to call on the university to negotiate with student protesters, May 8, 2024, in Washington. (Melos Ambaye/VOA)
Hala Amer, mother of a George Washington University student, speaks at a press conference with faculty and alumni to call on the university to negotiate with student protesters, May 8, 2024, in Washington. (Melos Ambaye/VOA)

“The university clearly does not value the students at all and has endangered the safety of our children by unleashing officers dressed in full riot gear to assault and spray our children in their eyes with pepper spray,” said Hala Amer, whose son participated in the campus protests.

Police said they dispersed demonstrators because "there has been a gradual escalation in the volatility of the protest."

American University professor Barbara Wien said she stayed in the encampment with GW students. She described the student protesters as democratic and peaceful.

Police started to shut down the tent encampment after dozens of protesters marched to GW President Ellen Granberg's on-campus home on Tuesday night. Police were called, but no arrests were made.

Speakers at the conference called for Granberg’s resignation because, they alleged, she refused to meet and negotiate with student protesters.

“You keep inciting violence and ignoring the students,” Amer said about Granberg in an interview with VOA after the conference. “It will just lead to more violence. You need to talk to your students.”

GW officials warned students that they could be suspended for engaging in protests at the school’s University Yard, an outdoor spot on the campus.

"While the university is committed to protecting students' rights to free expression, the encampment had evolved into an unlawful activity, with participants in direct violation of multiple university policies and city regulations," a GW statement said.

More than 2,600 people have been arrested at universities across the country in pro-Palestinian protests, according to The Associated Press.

Students are calling on their university administrations to divest investments from Israel or companies with ties to Israel. Demonstrators have gathered in at least 50 campuses since April 17, carrying signs that read "Free Palestine" and "Hands off Rafah."

Rafah is Gaza’s southernmost city, where most of the territory’s population has clustered. The area is also a corridor for bringing humanitarian aid into the Palestinian territory.

Israel seized the Gaza side of the Rafah crossing on Tuesday, while shutting off the nearby Kerem Shalom crossing, drawing criticism from humanitarian groups. Israel said Wednesday that it had reopened Kerem Shalom.

The nationwide campus protests started in response to Israel's offensive in Gaza that began after Hamas launched a terror attack on Israel on October 7, killing about 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages.

More than 34,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israel's offensive, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. Israel warned it could "deepen" its operation in Rafah if talks failed to secure the release of the hostages.

Some information for this report came from The Associated Press.

What to ask on a college visit

FILE - Passers-by walk on the campus of Harvard University, Dec. 12, 2023, in Cambridge, Mass.
FILE - Passers-by walk on the campus of Harvard University, Dec. 12, 2023, in Cambridge, Mass.

Sarah Wood lists 32 questions for applicants to learn more during a campus visit. (April 2024)

US is now the most desirable country for international students

FILE - People take photographs near a John Harvard statue, Jan. 2, 2024, on the campus of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass.
FILE - People take photographs near a John Harvard statue, Jan. 2, 2024, on the campus of Harvard University, in Cambridge, Mass.

That’s according to this year’s Emerging Futures research survey, from education consultant IDP Connect. Other Western countries have slipped due to new visa restrictions and caps on international students. Read a summary of the research from ICEF Monitor. (April 30, 2024)

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