Parents shell out a lot of money for their child’s education. But, are they funding something that’s going to pay off in the end or be a waste of money?
Bankrate.com has ranked the most and least valuable college majors.
Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering is the most valuable college major.
Overall, STEM degrees, particularly engineering degrees, dominate the top of the ranks, while Arts degrees comprise a majority of the bottom.
Bankrate's Adrian Garcia said parents need to make sure their students have a wide knowledge of what's available to them in the science, technology, engineering and math fields.
"We don't know what the economy of tomorrow is going to look like, but we know these underlying engineering skills are going to be used in the future and going to be a good baseline for job opportunities going forward," said Garcia.
He said naval architecture and marine engineering is ranked No. 1 because the median income is $90,000 and has an unemployment rate of 1.6 percent.
"There's a lot of degrees out there and we don't always hear about all of them. Not a lot of people in kindergarten say they want to be naval architects for example," said Garcia.
Drama and Theater Arts is the least valuable college major.
The study ranked 162 majors based on several factors pertaining to degree holders (weighting in parenthesis): median annual income (70%), unemployment rate (20%) and career paths that do not demand schooling beyond a bachelor’s degree (10%).