These degrees promised stability but now feel like expensive paperweights.
There was a time when picking a college major felt like signing a contract with a secure future. Parents pushed certain degrees like they were golden tickets, and universities happily cranked out diplomas with the promise of guaranteed careers. But the job market has shifted, technology has bulldozed old industries, and those once-safe academic choices are now causing serious second thoughts. For many graduates, that piece of paper didn’t open doors—it closed wallets and created years of debt.
It’s not always about how hard you worked or how smart you are. Sometimes the field just dried up, got outsourced, or became irrelevant overnight. The disappointment runs deep, especially when you followed all the rules and still ended up underemployed. These seven degrees might still teach valuable skills, but in today’s economy, they don’t come with the return on investment people expected. It’s not about shame—it’s about reality. And it’s time to talk about it.
1. Communications degrees are everywhere but jobs aren’t.
Communications majors were once seen as versatile—you could go into media, PR, advertising, or even corporate outreach. But as those industries shrank and consolidated, the market became flooded with graduates chasing the same limited pool of opportunities. Today, it feels like everyone has a communications degree, but very few land jobs that actually use them in meaningful or well-paying ways, according to Cheryl Robinson at Forbes.
The rise of content creation and social media shifted the landscape, but it didn’t create enough stable jobs to go around. Many communications grads end up taking roles far outside their field, struggling to explain the value of their degree in interviews. It’s a classic example of a major that sounds impressive but doesn’t always hold up when you’re staring at bills and applying to jobs with hundreds of other hopefuls.
2. Psychology degrees leave you halfway to anywhere.
Psychology fascinates people, and the subject feels deeply relevant to everyday life. But a bachelor’s degree in psych often leaves graduates in a professional no-man’s-land. You can’t practice as a therapist or counselor without further education, and entry-level roles rarely pay enough to justify the student loans. The field is incredibly popular, which only makes the competition fiercer.
Unless you’re ready to invest in grad school, the degree often gets reduced to a general studies diploma in the job market, as reported by Preston Fore at Fortune. Sure, you develop critical thinking skills, but those aren’t always enough to stand out. Many psychology grads wind up in administrative or sales jobs—nowhere near what they envisioned. It’s a field full of passionate students but few practical outcomes without additional schooling.
3. Political science sounds powerful but pays pennies.
A political science degree promises big ideas—government, policy, diplomacy, and debate. But outside a narrow band of opportunities like lobbying or public administration (which often require connections), it rarely leads to high-paying jobs. Most grads either go on to law school or drift into unrelated fields like retail, customer service, or general office work.
The problem isn’t that the material isn’t important. It’s that the real-world application is limited unless you’re deep in academia or well-networked in political circles, as stated by Siôn Phillpott at Career Addict. Without those advantages, it’s just a fancy way to say you understand how the system works but still can’t get a foot in the door. It can be a frustrating path for people who were hoping to make real change—or at least a decent living.
4. Criminal justice degrees often go nowhere without a badge.
Many people pursue criminal justice degrees with dreams of joining law enforcement, working in corrections, or entering forensics. The trouble is, most of these roles don’t require a degree—or at least not one in criminal justice. Police departments, for example, often hire based on academy performance, not diplomas. And forensic science typically requires a stronger background in chemistry or biology.
Graduates with criminal justice degrees often find themselves in limbo—overqualified for entry-level jobs and underqualified for the ones they actually want. The field also comes with physical and psychological demands that many people burn out on quickly. In the end, a lot of these grads shift to unrelated jobs, dragging along a degree that doesn’t hold much sway beyond its intended niche.
5. English degrees are rich in knowledge, poor in career options.
An English degree builds critical thinking, writing, and analysis skills—there’s no denying that. But in a job market hungry for technical or specialized expertise, those abilities don’t always translate into employment. Unless you’re planning to teach, edit, or write professionally (and those industries are shrinking), you may find yourself struggling to justify your qualifications to potential employers.
Even roles that seem writing-adjacent—like content marketing—often favor candidates with business or communications backgrounds. And entry-level writing jobs rarely pay well, making it hard for grads to repay loans or support themselves in expensive cities where most of those jobs exist. It’s a degree full of culture and meaning, but not necessarily money or security.
6. Sociology offers perspective, not paychecks.
Sociology helps students understand the dynamics of society, inequality, and institutions, but its real-world application is limited outside of academia or social work. Many entry-level jobs for sociology majors are in case management or administrative roles—important work, but often underpaid and emotionally draining. The degree doesn’t carry much weight outside a narrow circle of public service fields.
To make real progress in the field, graduate school is usually required. That means more debt without a clear promise of better pay. While the insights are valuable, employers tend to overlook sociology as a practical skillset, focusing instead on harder disciplines like economics, political science, or data analysis. That gap between meaningful study and job prospects can leave graduates feeling stuck and undervalued.
7. Art degrees often turn into passion projects, not professions.
Pursuing a degree in studio art, fine art, or similar fields is often fueled by deep creative passion—but the harsh reality is that the job market doesn’t make room for many artists. Galleries and museums offer few positions, and freelance work is often inconsistent and underpaid. Even graphic design, which once felt like a solid alternative, has become oversaturated.
Many art grads end up in service jobs or pivot entirely to unrelated industries to make ends meet. The degree may nurture talent, but it rarely leads directly to sustainable work unless you’re incredibly lucky or relentlessly entrepreneurial. While the experience can be rewarding personally, it often comes at the cost of long-term financial security, especially without a solid business plan to go along with the creativity.