Is a Degree in Liberal Arts More Lucrative Than a Degree in Engineering?

Written by: Sarah Hornsby

A degree in the liberal arts is often said to hold little value; however, there has been a recent report published by the Association of American Colleges and Universities that offers a new way of thinking about how much value a liberal arts degree really holds.

The report states that people with a degree in the liberal arts earn more money over time than those with other various degrees.

The report can be found here:  http://www.aacu.org/leap/nchems/index.cfm

The Chronicle of Higher Education breaks down and discusses the report in a much shorter article that is easy to understand.

The article can be found here:  http://chronicle.com/article/How-Liberal-Arts-Majors-Fare/144133/

The report is based on data from the U.S. Census Bureau's American Community Survey, which examines the payoff of a liberal arts degree over the course of a career, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education.

The report showed that people with liberal arts degrees earn a lower amount of money right out of college than those with engineering and other various degrees.  However, the same report shows that during the time of their peak earning ages, 56-60, people with liberal arts degrees earn about the same amount of money, if not more, than those with engineering and pre/professional degrees.

Photo Credit: The Chronicle of Higher Education website

According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, "one big reason that older humanities and social-science majors out-earn professional majors is that about 40 percent of people in the former group also hold a graduate degree."  Therefore, the wage growth in the careers of liberal arts degrees is largely due to the graduate degrees earned on top of the bachelors.

The report from the Association of American Colleges and Universities has caused a heated debate, which can be seen in the comments of the article.  Some people agree and many do not.

What do you think?