{"id":3399,"date":"2026-06-25T10:26:28","date_gmt":"2026-06-25T10:26:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=3399"},"modified":"2026-06-25T10:26:28","modified_gmt":"2026-06-25T10:26:28","slug":"is-college-worth-it-here-are-the-majors-that-pay-off","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/?p=3399","title":{"rendered":"Is college worth it? Here are the majors that pay off."},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A bachelor&#8217;s degree in any college major pays off in the long run.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">That&#8217;s the takeaway from an in-depth study of the financial return on college degrees\u00a0over time.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">A\u00a0report\u00a0from the Postsecondary Commission, a college accreditation organization, found that the typical bachelor&#8217;s degree yielded a\u00a0return of nearly $87,000\u00a0in the 15 years after students enrolled.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The return on investment\u00a0varied widely\u00a0by\u00a0major, from a high of $204,686 for engineering and architecture degrees to a low of $35,410 for liberal arts. But every major paid off in the end.<\/p>\n<div class=\"mb-4\">\n<div class=\"iframely-embed\">\n<div class=\"iframely-responsive\"><iframe src=\"https:\/\/iframely.publishing.yahoo.net\/Pxa3shWQ?v=1&amp;app=1\" allowfullscreen=\"allowfullscreen\" data-mce-fragment=\"1\"><\/iframe><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">800<\/p>\n<div class=\"max-md:faux-bleed mb-4 bg-accent\/2 pb-5 md:invisible md:mb-0 md:h-0 md:overflow-hidden md:pb-0\">\n<div class=\"py-2 text-center text-xs uppercase\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"flex w-full flex-nowrap justify-center\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;For the average student, I think what the study shows is that it&#8217;s a good value,&#8221; said\u00a0Chelsea Pennucci, vice president of research and knowledge management at the accreditor.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">Is college worth the cost in 2026?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The dollar value of a college degree may be the most important\u00a0topic\u00a0in higher education in 2026.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">With tuition rising, many Americans\u00a0are\u00a0drifting\u00a0toward\u00a0the view that college isn&#8217;t worth the expense. In 2024, Pew Research\u00a0reported\u00a0that only 22% of adults consider college &#8220;worth it&#8221; for students who have to take out loans.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"rounded-lg\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/lo\/mysterio\/api\/69b9c868e831d01fbfa10057f11d06b23df5dd73dcf181ec902f2ac53c9a1868\/lightyear_networkapi\/resizefill_w960;quality_80;format_webp\/https:%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Fusa_today_money_325%2Ff95a9e9703b6fd1e5a7cfecf073467d8\" alt=\"Is college worth the cost? A new study examines the return on a bachelor's degree over time.\" width=\"960\" height=\"640\" data-nimg=\"1\" \/><button class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" aria-label=\"View larger image\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\" data-rapid_p=\"14\" data-y-link-id=\"0sheoxa01g7kw91rjrft\" data-v9y=\"1\"><\/button><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<div>Is college worth the cost? A new study examines the return on a bachelor&#8217;s degree over time.<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;This has become a much more high-stakes conversation for families,\u00a0because of how expensive college is,&#8221; said\u00a0Armand Alacbay, chief of staff and senior vice president of strategy at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, an organization not involved in the report.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The study is not the first to look at the\u00a0return on a college investment, but it is unusual in its depth and scale. Researchers tracked nearly 1 million students who enrolled in 86 public colleges in Texas, starting in the 2008-09 academic year. They calculated how much those students earned through work, and how much they spent on study.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">For comparison purposes,\u00a0the study\u00a0also\u00a0tracked the earnings of demographically similar Texans who did not enroll in college.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Fifteen years after enrollment in a bachelor&#8217;s program, the average student had earned a cumulative $533,151. The comparison group, who did not attend college, had earned $432,996.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">After subtracting education expenses, the average student cleared $86,806 more income than the average non-student.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The accreditor chose to study students in Texas because the state has a &#8220;best-in-class, superb state longitudinal data system,&#8221; Pennucci said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;This study that we released in Texas was the first of what we hope are many,&#8221; she said.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"relative mb-4\">\n<div class=\"relative\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"rounded-lg\" src=\"https:\/\/s.yimg.com\/lo\/mysterio\/api\/9377155d505aebde80f480b7a0f1217b58cc0a29b3cea6899d82ee1c62a3cc3a\/lightyear_networkapi\/resizefill_w960;quality_80;format_webp\/https:%2F%2Fmedia.zenfs.com%2Fen%2Fusa_today_money_325%2Fe389da34774950ef8a3de15cb0fe8fde\" alt=\"The sticker price of college now exceeds $100,000 at some institutions, but most students pay much less.\" width=\"960\" height=\"741\" data-nimg=\"1\" \/><button class=\"group absolute bottom-0 size-full\" aria-label=\"View larger image\" data-ylk=\"elm:expand;itc:1;sec:image-lightbox;slk:lightbox-open;\" data-rapid_p=\"17\" data-y-link-id=\"09is9r11nub4y00d77xo\" data-v9y=\"1\"><\/button><\/div><figcaption class=\"relative text-sm mt-1 pr-2.5\">\n<div>The sticker price of college now exceeds $100,000 at some institutions, but most students pay much less.<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">Some colleges now charge more than $100,000<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The high sticker price\u00a0at\u00a0America&#8217;s priciest private colleges is a perennial source of outrage for the nation&#8217;s college-bound students and their families.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">At least 16 colleges charge\u00a0more than $100,000\u00a0in tuition, fees, room and board to students who pay full fare, according to a June report from CNBC.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">But few students pay the sticker price, and the actual cost of college is typically much lower.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The average net price in tuition and fees for an in-state student at a four-year public college plummeted by\u00a0nearly half\u00a0over the past\u00a0decade, after inflation, from $4,400\u00a0in 2015-16\u00a0to an estimated $2,300\u00a0in 2025-26, according to\u202fa report\u202ffrom the College Board.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">At private nonprofit colleges, average tuition and fees have dwindled from $19,490\u00a0in 2015\u00a0to an estimated $16,910 in 2025, after accounting for inflation and aid.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The Texas report focuses on public institutions. The typical Texas student spent a total of $13,349 on higher education over 15 years.\u00a0That sum will sound shockingly low to anyone who has paid full price at a private college.\u00a0It&#8217;s probably more representative of the\u00a073%\u00a0of college students nationwide who\u00a0attend public institutions.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">When does a college degree start to pay off?<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Tracking students over time, researchers found that Texans who chose to attend college started out behind their peers who did not, in financial terms.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The earnings gap peaked\u00a0around year five,\u00a0the earliest date a typical college student\u00a0might enter the\u00a0full-time\u00a0workforce. At that point, the college attender had\u00a0roughly $34,000 less\u00a0wealth, between lost earnings and college costs, than the non-student.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The college student\u00a0caught\u00a0up to\u00a0the non-student around year 10. After that, higher earnings put the college student further ahead every year.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Not every college delivered the same returns. Students who enrolled in bachelor&#8217;s programs at 27 Texas colleges\u00a0earned more\u00a0over time\u00a0than non-students, the study found. At two other campuses, they earned less.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The study didn&#8217;t identify those schools, but Pennucci said colleges with higher graduation rates generally yielded higher earnings for their students.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Notably, the report\u00a0included students who didn&#8217;t finish their degrees. Nationally, only about three-fifths of college students\u00a0complete their studies within six years.\u00a0If you don&#8217;t earn a degree, you don&#8217;t\u00a0get\u00a0the salary bump that comes with it.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"mb-4 text-xl font-bold md:text-2xl\">Some degrees are more valuable than others<\/h2>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">The study&#8217;s findings reaffirm the widely held view that some college degrees\u00a0are more valuable than others.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Degree programs focused on high-paying careers yielded more bang for the tuition buck than programs in traditional academic\u00a0disciplines. Engineering and architecture students fared best,\u00a0in money terms,\u00a0followed by business and economics majors. Degrees in the physical and social sciences delivered less payoff. The liberal arts finished last.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">Some academic leaders worry that the report might drive students away from programs that encompass the core of human knowledge.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;I do worry about the whole focus on economic return,&#8221; said\u00a0Ted Mitchell, president of the American Council on Education, who also sits on the governing board of the Postsecondary Commission. &#8220;I think it is a fair focus, but I think it certainly shouldn&#8217;t be the only focus.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">One argument for studying liberal arts, rather than engineering or business,\u00a0suggests\u00a0courses in philosophy and literature teach critical thinking skills, and that those skills pay off over the full course of a career in any field.<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\">&#8220;Your college major is very helpful in finding your first job,&#8221;\u00a0Alacbay\u00a0said. &#8220;But what about your fifth job, or your seventh?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p class=\"mb-4 text-lg md:leading-8 break-words\"><em>This article originally appeared on USA TODAY:\u00a0<\/em><em>These college majors pay off over time<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A bachelor&#8217;s degree in any college major pays off in the long run. That&#8217;s the takeaway from an<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":3400,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[88,7,48],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3399","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-finance","category-news","category-us"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3399","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=3399"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3399\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3401,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3399\/revisions\/3401"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3400"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=3399"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=3399"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.cedritech.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=3399"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}