Lily Heath
Apr 15, 2024
I always wonder what majors are most popular and why. Naturally, I just assumed it was going to be health and medicine, but it is not. Health is the second most popular college major in the US. The top for majors is business, health, engineering and, social sciences – history. This list is by the National Center for Education Statistics (.gov).
Business is most popular in the US because as of 2021, 19 percent of the US studies business. There are a lot of different fields in overall business. Some of them could be accounting, human resources, logistics, economics, etc. According to the College Board Blog, “The Basics of Business Majors; Analyze a business's strengths and weaknesses; Figure out the best way to make a profit.”
The second most popular is health studies. This major hold up 13 percent of the US. Health majors do most everything to do with medicine, hospitals, and healthcare. Like nursing, epidemiologist, anesthesia technicians, clinical research, etc. The of Health and Medicine majors can include Taking x-rays, preforming ultrasounds, assisting in surgery, etc. Jobs after college and even in college can range from dental hygienist to trauma surgeons. There is really no shortage of jobs in the health and medicine field.
After health comes engineering. Engineering takes a total of 6 percent of US majors. Those who major in Engineering can get careers such as biomedical engineering, software engineering, IT, product design, etc. This major prepares students for many fields skill like analysis, problem solving for real-world situations, leadership, and teamwork.
The final major in this list is history and social sciences. History and social sciences are only 1.2 percent of the US. The history major explores topics like art, architecture, and politics throughout the past. The history degree can get you jobs at museums, schools, and libraries. Social science majors are similar but not the same. This major studies things like anthropology, history, sociology, psychology, and more. This is more of a liberal arts education which holds more to humanities, social and natural sciences.
These majors are strictly just the top four. Just these four alone only hold 39.2 precent of the college major options. There are so many different fields and career paths to choose from, even if you love the idea of one thing, it may benefit you to research and learn more about other options.