A new YouGov survey on college majors finds that many Americans see engineering, health care, and computer science as good fields for students picking a major. The majors that the largest shares of Americans say they would personally find interesting — from a list of 40 included in the poll — aren’t exactly the same as the list Americans would recommend to students, and include history, psychology, and criminal justice.
62% of Americans say that for a student entering college today, choosing to major in nursing would be a very good decision. Majorities also say it would be a very good decision to major in engineering (58%) and computer science (57%). About half think it would be a very good decision to major in each of the following: electrical engineering (52%), mechanical engineering (52%), business (48%), and finance and accounting (47%).
The majors Americans are least likely to see as good ones for a person entering college today to pick, from the list of 40: liberal arts (9%), philosophy (10%), and anthropology (10%).
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say it’s a very good decision to major in public health (50% vs. 28%), social work (35% vs. 21%), and political science (29% vs. 16%).
Which college majors do Americans say they would find most interesting themselves? 41% think it would be very interesting to major in history, 35% say so about psychology, and 32% do about criminal justice.
The majors Americans are least likely to say would be very interesting to them are speech/language pathology (14%), statistics (14%), and kinesiology and physical therapy (15%).
Men are more likely than women to say they would find it very or somewhat interesting to major in history (80% vs. 68%), economics (74% vs. 54%), computer science (73% vs. 53%), and earth sciences (72% vs. 59%). Women are more likely than men to say they would find it interesting to major in psychology (77% vs. 69%), criminal justice (75% vs. 67%), nutrition (71% vs. 63%), social work (68% vs. 49%), and nursing (58% vs. 43%).
Adults under 45 are more likely than older Americans to say it would be very or somewhat interesting to major in psychology (81% vs. 66%), English (72% vs. 56%), and art (71% vs. 50%).
If Americans were pursuing a college degree today and had the poll's list of 40 majors to choose from, 27% say they would consider majoring in computer science, 23% would consider criminal justice, 23% would consider business, 22% would consider finance and accounting, and 21% would consider engineering.
In December 2022, slightly less Americans said they would consider majoring in criminal justice (17%) and finance and accounting (14%).
Women are more likely than men to say they would consider criminal justice (27% vs. 19%), nursing (26% vs. 12%), psychology (25% vs. 17%), and social work (23% vs. 7%) as potential majors. Men are more likely than women to say they would consider majoring in computer science (37% vs. 18%), engineering (32% vs. 11%), mechanical engineering (28% vs. 8%), and electrical engineering (27% vs. 8%).
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say they would consider majoring in social work (22% vs. 12%), public health (20% vs. 11%), and political science (19% vs. 11%). Republicans are more likely than Democrats to say they would consider majoring in finance and accounting (29% vs. 20%) and business (27% vs. 21%).
The vast majority (74%) of Americans say that when a college student is selecting a major, how interested they are in the major should be a very important factor. 65% say the subject's relevance is to their career goals should be a very important factor and 57% say the same about the major's job placement rate. 56% say how good they are at the major should be a very important factor in the decision and 52% say its earnings potential should be a very important factor when deciding what to major in. Smaller shares say it’s very important for students to consider how likely it is that artificial intelligence will replace jobs in the field (40%), how much the field will allow them to contribute to society (36%), how difficult or demanding it is (35%), and how well-rounded it makes them (34%).
Democrats are more likely than Republicans to say how much a major will allow students to contribute to society is a very important consideration when choosing (43% vs. 34%). Republicans are more likely to rate as very important a major's earnings potential (60% vs. 49%) and job placement rate (65% vs. 57%).
Most Americans say that if a person is weighing both how interested they are in a major and the major’s earning potential, they should more heavily weigh interest (63%). Less than half that share (27%) say they should more heavily weigh the major’s earning potential.
Americans 65 and older are more likely than younger adults to say people should give more consideration to how interested they are in the major (72% vs. 61%).
Related:
- Democrats are more positive than Republicans about their community's schools — and much more positive about the country's
- How Americans feel about AI’s role in their careers and in K-12 schooling
- Which school subjects do Americans say are most relevant to their lives?
See the results for this YouGov survey
— Carl Bialik and Taylor Orth contributed to this article
Methodology: This article includes results from a poll conducted online among 2,265 U.S. adult citizens on two separate 2025 surveys from November 12 - 16 and November 17 - 20. Respondents were selected from YouGov’s opt-in panel to be representative of adult U.S. citizens. The sample was weighted according to gender, age, race, education, 2024 presidential vote, 2020 election turnout and presidential vote, baseline party identification, and current voter registration status. 2024 presidential vote, at time of weighting, was estimated to be 48% Harris and 50% Trump. Demographic weighting targets come from the 2019 American Community Survey. Baseline party identification is the respondent’s most recent answer given around November 8, 2024, and is weighted to the estimated distribution at that time (31% Democratic, 32% Republican). The margin of error for the overall sample is approximately 3 percentage points.
Image: Getty
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