Attending college often leads to higher earnings, but not all degrees result in high salaries — particularly those in liberal arts.
A recent analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York reveals that graduates with bachelor’s degrees in education, social work, or the arts typically earn the lowest median incomes within five years of graduating. The study focuses solely on full-time workers who are no longer enrolled in school.
Using the most recent data from 2023, the findings show that early-career salaries in these fields are below the U.S. median wage of $48,060 for that year, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Engineering majors can earn starting salaries exceeding $80,000, while graduates in liberal arts and education typically make around $40,000 early in their careers. Across all majors reviewed, the median salary was $50,000.
Below is a list of the 10 majors associated with the lowest median earnings for full-time workers aged 22 to 27.
Although learning a foreign language is undoubtedly valuable, earning a degree in it doesn’t always translate into high-paying jobs. This is partly because language skills can often be acquired outside of formal education, and many graduates in this field pursue lower-paying careers such as teaching, translation, or public service.
Similarly, liberal arts majors generally earn less than those in technical fields like engineering or mathematics, mainly due to lower demand for their skills in lucrative industries like tech and finance.
Unfortunately, this earnings gap often persists as liberal arts graduates age, particularly for those who work in education.
Below is a look at the 10 lowest-paying college majors among full-time workers aged 35 to 45.
