Most Regretted College Majors in 2026
Almost half of college graduates say they would pick a different major if they could go back. That is not a rounding error or a quirky survey result. It represents millions of people who spent four years and tens of thousands of dollars pursuing a degree they now wish they had never started.
The question is not whether major regret exists. The question is whether you can avoid it. This guide breaks down which degrees generate the most regret, why it happens, and what the data actually says about preventing it before you enroll.
Why So Many Graduates Regret Their Major
Federal Reserve data from the Survey of Household Economics and Decisionmaking shows that 44% of graduates would change their major. That number has been climbing steadily since 2016, driven by rising tuition costs, a tighter entry-level job market, and growing access to salary transparency tools that let graduates see exactly how much their peers in other fields are earning.
The regret is not evenly distributed. Some fields see fewer than 25% of graduates expressing regret, while others approach 50%. The pattern is remarkably consistent across surveys from the Fed, ZipRecruiter, Bankrate, and Earnest: degrees with clear career pathways and strong early earnings produce the least regret, while degrees with ambiguous career outcomes and low starting salaries produce the most.
This does not mean that every humanities degree is a mistake or every engineering degree is a home run. It means that students who choose without understanding the career landscape are far more likely to end up disappointed.
The Most Regretted College Majors
Across multiple national surveys, these fields consistently generate the highest rates of graduate regret.
Humanities and Liberal Arts
English, philosophy, history, and general liberal arts degrees top nearly every regret ranking. Around 43-48% of humanities graduates say they would choose differently. The core issue is not the education itself, which develops strong analytical and communication skills, but the lack of a direct career pipeline. Graduates frequently report spending years in unrelated jobs before finding a role that uses their degree, if they find one at all.
Social and Behavioral Sciences
Sociology, anthropology, and political science see regret rates near 44%. These fields produce genuinely valuable research skills, but the entry-level job market for social science bachelor's degrees is thin. Many graduates discover too late that meaningful work in these fields requires a master's or doctorate.
Education
Despite being one of the most mission-driven fields, education majors report high regret driven almost entirely by compensation. Starting teacher salaries in most states fall below $40,000, and the salary ceiling is among the lowest of any professional field. Graduates who love teaching often regret not the work but the financial strain.
Communications and Journalism
The media industry has contracted dramatically over the past decade. Communications graduates face a saturated market where internships and connections matter more than coursework. Journalism graduates in particular report high regret as newsroom employment continues to decline.
Fine Arts and Performing Arts
Studio art, theater, and music performance degrees carry underemployment rates above 50% in some surveys. Many graduates work in entirely unrelated fields within five years of graduation. The degrees that produce working artists tend to come from highly selective programs, not the broader field.
General Business Administration
This one surprises people. While specialized business degrees like finance and accounting rank among the highest-paying majors, a general business administration degree can feel unfocused. Graduates sometimes report that the degree was too broad to make them competitive for specialized roles.
The Least Regretted Majors
For contrast, these fields consistently produce the lowest regret rates, generally below 25%.
Computer Science and Information Technology
Strong starting salaries, abundant job openings, and clear career progression make CS one of the least regretted degrees. Even graduates who leave pure software development find their technical skills transfer easily to product management, data science, and tech-adjacent roles.
Engineering
Mechanical, electrical, civil, and chemical engineering all show low regret. The combination of high starting pay, professional licensure pathways, and tangible problem-solving appeals to graduates long after college.
Nursing and Health Sciences
Healthcare degrees benefit from a structural labor shortage that virtually guarantees employment. Nursing graduates report some of the lowest regret rates of any field, even accounting for the demanding work conditions.
Economics and Finance
These fields bridge analytical rigor with clear career pathways in banking, consulting, corporate finance, and policy. Graduates report that the quantitative skills they developed remain valuable throughout their careers.
Notice the pattern: low-regret majors share two traits. They connect directly to identifiable careers, and they produce above-median starting salaries. This does not mean you should only consider these fields. It means you should understand the career landscape of any major before committing to it.
Why Major Regret Happens
Regret is not random. Research identifies several consistent drivers.
Choosing Based on a Single High School Class
Students often pick a major because they enjoyed one class in that subject. But enjoying AP Psychology in high school is very different from building a career in clinical psychology, which requires 8-10 years of post-secondary education. A single positive experience is too thin a foundation for a four-year commitment.
Following Friends or Family Expectations
Parental influence is one of the strongest predictors of major choice, and also one of the strongest predictors of regret. Students who choose a major to please their parents, rather than based on their own aptitudes, are significantly more likely to switch or express dissatisfaction. Our guide for parents covers how to support without steering.
Ignoring the Job Market
Many students treat college as purely an intellectual pursuit and are blindsided by the job market upon graduation. Understanding whether and how your major matters to employers before you declare can prevent years of frustration.
Not Understanding Their Own Strengths
The deepest source of regret is a mismatch between the student and the field. A student with strong spatial reasoning and mechanical aptitude who chooses marketing because it sounds creative may struggle in a field that actually rewards verbal and social skills. Self-knowledge is the missing ingredient in most major decisions.
The Salary Gap Nobody Warned You About
The financial dimension of major regret deserves its own section because the numbers are stark. The difference between the median starting salary for the highest-paying and lowest-paying majors is roughly $45,000 per year. Over a 40-year career, even accounting for convergence over time, the cumulative earnings gap between a high-regret major and a low-regret major can exceed $1 million.
This is not an argument that everyone should study engineering. It is an argument that you should know the salary range of your intended field before you commit. A student who chooses social work knowing the salary range and feeling called to the work will experience far less regret than a student who discovers the salary range after graduation. You can explore the full salary picture in our highest-paying majors breakdown and our degree tier list.
How to Avoid Becoming a Statistic
Major regret is not inevitable. Students who take a data-driven approach to their decision report dramatically lower regret rates. Here is what the evidence says works.
Research Career Outcomes Before You Declare
Look at Bureau of Labor Statistics data, LinkedIn career paths, and starting salary surveys for any major you are considering. Know the employment rate, the median salary, and the typical career trajectory before you commit.
Talk to People Working in the Field
Informational interviews with professionals give you a ground-level view that no website can replicate. Ask what they wish they had known before choosing their major. Ask what their day-to-day work actually looks like.
Assess Your Aptitudes, Not Just Your Interests
Interest fades. Aptitude endures. A student who is interested in medicine but has low tolerance for ambiguity and high need for creative expression may thrive in medical illustration or health communications rather than clinical practice. Understanding your cognitive and personality profile is the single most effective way to predict satisfaction in a field.
Use a Scientific Assessment
Free quizzes give you surface-level results. A comprehensive assessment that maps your personality traits, cognitive strengths, and values against career outcome data gives you a decision framework that dramatically reduces the odds of regret. This is exactly what MajorMatch's methodology was built to do. If you are not sure where to start, our analysis of free quiz accuracy explains the difference.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the number one most regretted college major?
Humanities and social science degrees consistently rank as the most regretted, with 43-44% of graduates saying they would choose differently. Journalism, sociology, and liberal arts top most surveys.
What percentage of college graduates regret their major?
Roughly 44% of college graduates say they would choose a different major if they could do it over, according to Federal Reserve survey data.
Can you still get a good job with a regretted major?
Yes. Your major does not define your entire career. However, graduates of regretted majors typically take longer to reach median earnings and report lower early-career satisfaction.
How do I know if I will regret my major?
The strongest predictor of major regret is choosing based on passion alone without researching career outcomes. Students who combine interest data with salary and job-market research report significantly less regret.
Is a psychology degree regretted?
Psychology appears on most-regretted lists because the field requires graduate school for most clinical roles. However, psychology graduates who enter UX, HR, or data analytics report much lower regret.