Tough economic times have some in educational fields gun-shy of advising future undergraduates to pursue their dreams with a liberal arts degree.
A liberal arts education has been criticized by some for not always leading directly to employment, but increased economic challenges have led to that chorus getting louder.
Jennifer Severini-Kresock, who worked for 20 years as a high school counselor and now owns NEPA Career and College Counseling Associates, said she encourages students to consider technical careers.
In Northeast Pennsylvania, Lackawanna College, community colleges and other workforce training centers have offered educational opportunities related to natural gas operations and other fields.
"That's really where the money is," Ms. Severini-Kresock said. "We all know how hard it is to get a plumber or electrician to come to your house."
Ms. Severini-Kresock said she has observed many students with a liberal arts degree working in positions that don't require a college degree. She also knows from personal experience.
As an undergraduate in psychology, she loved the field but had a hard time finding a job. Instead of entering the workforce with her four-year degree, Ms. Severini-Kresock enrolled in graduate school.
"A basic liberal arts degree doesn't get you very far these days," she said. "Unfortunately, I see a lot of students in fast-food places because they can't find a job in their field."
Liberal arts degrees such as English, history, anthropology have received additional criticism as the cost of attending four-year colleges and universities continue to rise faster than the rate of inflation. More people have started to question the return on investment of liberal arts degrees. Richard Vedder, Ph.D., director of the Washington, D.C.-based Center for College Affordability and Productivity, authored a policy report released earlier this year, "Why Are Recent College Graduates Underemployed?" which examined university enrollments and labor markets.
Dr. Vedder said the number of college graduates seems out of synch with the fastest-growing fields in the nation, which don't require four-year degrees. The top five occupations - registered nurse, retail sales, home health aides, personal care aides and office clerks - do not require a bachelor's degree, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
"What we're training people to do is out of whack with the labor market," he said.
While Dr. Vedder said data are not compiled for what specific college majors do for a living, he has examined earnings based on major.
While average mid-year salaries for electrical engineering majors is $102,000, according to 2009 data from the website payscale.com, drama majors make $56,600.
However, Dr. Vedder said at least some liberal arts majors seem to pay as well as degrees in other majors.
"It turns out philosophy majors mid-career pay is as much as business administration majors," he said.
When Joe Kraus, Ph.D., associate professor of English and theater at the University of Scranton, hears negativity associated with liberal arts degrees, his blood pressure tends to rise. He disagrees with people who say the degrees have lost value. Dr. Kraus said people make a mistake by thinking a college education should directly lead to a job.
"They're proposing that college is going to train you for a specific type of job," he said. "It's never done that."
Director of the honors program at the university, Dr. Kraus said liberal arts majors learn how to analyze data, use critical thinking skills, develop communication abilities and other important skills helpful to succeed in many fields.
"The whole purpose for a degree is to prepare you for a lifetime, and you don't know what that will bring," he said. "Get the broadest, most flexible skills possible - that's the liberal arts."
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