The Great Major Regret: Why Recent College Graduates Wish They’d Chosen Differently

The Growing Disconnect Between Education and Career Expectations

Fresh out of college with a diploma in hand, many recent graduates are finding themselves facing an uncomfortable truth: they’re not entirely happy with what they studied. It’s a feeling that’s becoming increasingly common among young people entering today’s challenging job market. According to a comprehensive survey conducted by ZipRecruiter, roughly one in five recent college graduates—that’s about 20%—say they regret their choice of major. The survey, which gathered insights from 1,500 members of the class of 2025 and another 1,500 students preparing to graduate this spring, paints a sobering picture of the mismatch between academic aspirations and career realities. This buyer’s remorse isn’t just a minor disappointment; it represents a significant concern for young people who invested years of their lives and often substantial amounts of money into their education, only to discover that the path they chose might not lead where they hoped it would. The disconnect between classroom learning and workforce demands has left many recent graduates second-guessing their decisions at a crucial moment in their professional lives.

Liberal Arts: The Majors With the Highest Regret Rates

When it comes to which fields of study generate the most second thoughts, liberal arts majors lead the pack in expressing disappointment with their choices. The survey reveals that students who focused on political science, international relations, or public policy experience the highest rates of regret, with a striking 46.3% wishing they had chosen a different path. Close behind are communications, media studies, and public relations majors, where 39.2% express similar feelings of dissatisfaction. Many of these students now say they wish they had pursued something more scientific or quantitative—fields that might offer clearer career pathways or better compensation. This pattern of regret speaks to a larger concern about how well traditional liberal arts education prepares students for the practical demands of today’s job market. However, it’s important to note that this isn’t exclusively a liberal arts problem. Even students who chose more traditionally “practical” majors aren’t immune to these feelings. About one-third of physical sciences majors—those who studied physics, chemistry, or earth sciences—also expressed doubts about their choices, showing that regret cuts across various academic disciplines and isn’t limited to any single type of degree.

The Harsh Reality of Today’s Entry-Level Job Market

The regret that recent graduates feel isn’t happening in a vacuum; it’s taking place against the backdrop of an increasingly difficult job market for young workers trying to establish their careers. The current employment landscape has become noticeably more challenging for those seeking their first professional roles. Data from ZipRecruiter shows a troubling trend: entry-level positions now account for just 38.6% of job postings as of March 1st, representing a significant drop from 43.4% just two years earlier. This means that opportunities specifically designed for recent graduates are becoming scarcer at precisely the moment when more young people are competing for them. The shrinking availability of entry-level roles couldn’t come at a worse time, as demand for these positions continues to increase with each graduating class entering the workforce. This supply-and-demand imbalance creates a perfect storm of stress and uncertainty for young workers, making the early career phase particularly anxiety-inducing. Research from the Federal Reserve has found that this stress might amplify feelings of regret, as younger Americans tend to view their college degrees less positively than middle-aged workers who have had time to establish themselves professionally and see the long-term value of their education materialize over time.

The Pay Gap: When Reality Falls Short of Expectations

Beyond the struggle to simply land a job, recent graduates face another dispiriting reality: when they do secure positions in their chosen fields, the compensation often falls dramatically short of what they anticipated. The salary shock can be particularly jarring for certain majors. According to ZipRecruiter’s survey findings, graduates who studied public health or health administration discovered that their actual pay was a staggering 43.8% lower than what they expected when they started their job search. That’s a difference significant enough to completely reshape someone’s financial planning and life choices. Other fields also show substantial gaps between expectations and reality. Majors in agriculture, environmental science, or natural resources, along with those who studied English, literature, or journalism, found their compensation running about 30% below their expectations. These aren’t minor discrepancies—they represent substantial differences that can affect everything from where graduates can afford to live, whether they can begin paying down student loans, and how quickly they can achieve financial independence. This pay reality check adds another layer to graduate regret, as young professionals realize that not only might their job prospects be limited, but the positions available in their field may not provide the financial security they had hoped their college degree would deliver.

Nursing: A Major That Delivers on Its Promises

While the survey reveals considerable dissatisfaction across many fields of study, one major stands out as a bright spot: nursing. For students concerned about job security and career prospects, pursuing a nursing degree appears to offer a substantially more reliable pathway to employment and financial stability. The data tells an encouraging story for nursing graduates: nearly one-third of them managed to secure job offers before they even walked across the stage to receive their diplomas. This early employment success reflects the continued high demand for healthcare workers across the United States, a trend driven largely by the country’s aging population, which requires increasing levels of medical care and attention. The healthcare sector has proven to be one of the most robust areas of the economy, consistently driving employment growth even when other industries struggle. In March alone, healthcare jobs accounted for an impressive 43% of all payroll gains across the entire economy, demonstrating just how vital this sector has become to overall employment. Beyond job availability, nursing graduates also enjoy superior compensation compared to their peers in other fields. According to the ZipRecruiter report, nursing majors landed the highest median starting salary of any major studied, earning $70,000 annually right out of college—a figure that significantly exceeds what most other recent graduates can expect to earn in their first professional positions.

Understanding Graduate Regret in Context

The phenomenon of major regret among recent college graduates reflects deeper questions about how we think about higher education and its role in preparing young people for successful careers. It’s important to recognize that these feelings of regret, while valid and understandable, may be particularly acute during the stressful transition from college to career—a time when anxiety runs high and the future feels uncertain. The Federal Reserve research suggesting that middle-aged workers view their degrees more positively than younger Americans indicates that perspective often changes with time and experience. What seems like a career dead-end at 22 might prove to have been valuable preparation for unexpected opportunities that emerge later in life. That said, the data also highlights real structural issues: a shrinking entry-level job market, significant pay gaps between expectations and reality, and clear differences in outcomes between different fields of study. These patterns suggest that prospective students might benefit from more transparent information about career prospects and typical salaries in various fields before making their major selection. The success of nursing graduates demonstrates that when education aligns closely with clear workforce needs, both job placement and satisfaction improve dramatically. As we think about the future of higher education, finding ways to better connect academic programs with career outcomes—without sacrificing the broader intellectual and personal development that college provides—remains an important challenge that affects not just individual students, but society as a whole.