I think they changed their methodology because there are major changes from last year's list. Economics, biology, and theater arts/drama are no longer in the top 10. One problem that I have is that they asked if the person felt underpaid. I don't think that's really relevant unless you're comparing salary to the cost of the degree to calculate return on investment. You either need a degree or you don't for the position you have. Feeling underpaid is subjective. They did also ask if the person is working part-time but wants to work full-time and if they're using their education/training. However, I truly do believe that criminal justice majors have a high underemployment rate. People like to argue with me on this, but criminal justice majors tend to be underemployed because they take jobs that don't require a bachelor's degree: police, corrections, security, etc. Honestly, they don't qualify for much else. Even among the 100 largest cities and 100 largest police departments (these lists are different), only 4-16% of them require a bachelor's degree. Overall, only 1% of police departments require a bachelor's degree. These numbers don't include federal law enforcement agencies; but, even then, most of them do not require a criminal justice degree. In some cases, having a criminal justice degree can hurt your chances of getting a job in a federal law enforcement agency. Last year, business management/administration was #1 and criminal justice and theater arts/drama were #2. Most Underemployed Majors Criminal Justice Business Management & Administration Health Care Administration General Studies Sociology English Language & Literature Graphic Design Liberal Arts Education Psychology Least Underemployed Majors Civil & Environmental Engineering Aerospace Engineering Computer Engineering Chemical Engineering Law (??? this list is supposed to be undergraduate majors only) Physics Mechanical Engineering Electrical Engineering Geology Mathematics The college majors most and least likely to lead to underemployment - The Washington Post PayScale | Most Underemployed Majors
