How Much is your Major Worth?

[Footer]

If you have never listened to Planet Money... you need to.

This was based on the average lifetime yearly salary of a given person. It does not consider what school the person attended, only the degree they received. It also does not take into consideration what the person did with that degree.

Full episode here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/money/2013/09/11/221417806/episode-485-whats-your-major

 

[TheaterEd]

Someone should have showed me this when I was in high school...
It probably wouldn't have changed anything, but it might have effected how many loans I took out.

 

[sk8rsdad]

More food for thought. It's a long article but worth the read. Knowledge working might not be all it's cracked up to be for North Americans in the coming years.

 

[balderson04]

Had a "discussion" with a, ahem, "right-wing person" who thinks that anyone who doesn't go into trades is simply a burden on society. Very upset with my son, who has a degree in theatre (Cum Laude and Dean's List) and is going back for extended training after getting rave reviews for his professional debut in a one-man show, and, somehow, even more upset with my daughter, who is studying sociology. Mostly upset, I think, that they are going to university and she didn't.

When she challenged me with "how many jobs have you created?" (as if I have to be a Donald Trump or be a total failure in life), I pointed out that my work in theatre over the last 30 years in my small Canadian town has generated quite a few millions of dollars within the local economy, she got even angrier.

Sometimes you can't win.

 

[MrsFooter]

Wait, I'm worth $40,000? I need to have another talk with my boss!

Hey, Footer...

 

[Footer]

Had a "discussion" with a, ahem, "right-wing person" who thinks that anyone who doesn't go into trades is simply a burden on society. Very upset with my son, who has a degree in theatre (Cum Laude and Dean's List) and is going back for extended training after getting rave reviews for his professional debut in a one-man show, and, somehow, even more upset with my daughter, who is studying sociology. Mostly upset, I think, that they are going to university and she didn't.

When she challenged me with "how many jobs have you created?" (as if I have to be a Donald Trump or be a total failure in life), I pointed out that my work in theatre over the last 30 years in my small Canadian town has generated quite a few millions of dollars within the local economy, she got even angrier.

Sometimes you can't win.

Hopefully for both of their sakes they did so without taking out any student loans. There are a lot more slots in places to get trained than there are jobs.

If I had a kid right I would probably be doing everything possible to push them away from a liberal arts education of any type.

The scary thing about this chart is that there is no differance in the cost of the majors on the list. A theatre major pays the same as an engineering student at most schools. I know some schools do charge a bit more for engineering but it is usually less then a few percent. We all know theatre and other art professors get paid the least out of most faculty. So, why are we paying so much for these programs when we are not going to get the return? You can say facility's all you want, but science and engineering labs cost a lost more then some theatre and a pile of lumber.

 

[soundman]

When she challenged me with "how many jobs have you created?" (as if I have to be a Donald Trump or be a total failure in life), I pointed out that my work in theatre over the last 30 years in my small Canadian town has generated quite a few millions of dollars within the local economy, she got even angrier.

I was loading into to an arena and my dead case storage room was the VIP lounge, nice wood trim and fancy wallpaper everywhere. I told my hands to be careful when pushing cases in there and to be sure to leave a few inches between the cases and the wall because I didn't want to hear about any damages. One of the hands pushed missed the opening in the doorway with the box, hit the wood trim and took out some drywall. I reminded him to be careful and he said "Hey man, I'm just creating jobs" Look at the impact of a ten truck / 8 bus tour coming to a town. Its about 60-80 stage hands, 40 security, countless ushers, ticket takers, hot dog vendors, merch sellers, runners, caterers, venue clean up and change over people. I'd like to think our industry creates jobs. Hot dog vendors aren't going to retire to a yacht but we all have bills to pay and the chance to point in a few extra hours between sporting events might help some people stay afloat.

If you don't mind being away from home 200+ days a year its not too hard to beat 40K a year. Trying to find a house or office gig that pays that much is a little harder but still obtainable.

 

[VCTMike]

Pay? What's that?

 

[StNic54]

I think it's an important, honest graph, but it also just entails Bachelor's degrees. I think a smart companion would be a listing of jobs available on average in each field. We can argue pay scales all day, but job availability is just as crucial.