Navigating the Bachelor’s Degree Maze: A Quick Guide to Popular Majors

Are you look­ing to go to col­lege? If you’re in high school and need help choos­ing the right major, we got you!

This bach­e­lor’s degree nav­i­ga­tion guide presents some of the most pop­u­lar col­lege majors to sim­pli­fy your deci­sion-mak­ing process. We also show you how to max­i­mize the career oppor­tu­ni­ties that these top-tier majors offer. We offer com­pre­hen­sive bach­e­lor’s degree advice as well.

We hope that we can help you choose the best major to match your inter­ests and career plans!

Relat­ed Articles:

• How to Choose a Niche Bach­e­lor’s Degree
• Your Best Fit: Choos­ing a Major Based On Your Personality
• Dis­cov­er The Top Emerg­ing Fields For Bach­e­lor’s Degrees
• A Sim­ple Guide to STEM Majors: Sci­ence, Tech, Engi­neer­ing, Math

The 5 Most Popular Majors

Business

You can earn a Busi­ness degree in many four-year uni­ver­si­ties. With a Busi­ness edu­ca­tion, you learn the ways to becom­ing a pro­fes­sion­al in these areas:

• Finance
• Mar­ket­ing
• Human Resources
• Entre­pre­neur­ship

Employ­ers world­wide seek the skills you get in a Busi­ness major. This demand is a tes­ta­ment to the val­ue and impact of a Busi­ness education.

You can get well-pay­ing jobs with your a bach­e­lor’s degree in Busi­ness. Your entry-lev­el work will require this major. You can also enroll in a Mas­ter of Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion (MBA) degree to find high­er-pay­ing roles.

Busi­ness majors have excel­lent analy­sis skills. They are great at strate­gic deci­sion-mak­ing and prob­lem solving.

Who should consider a Business major?

If you want a job in almost every indus­try, a Busi­ness degree can get you there. Over time, you can be pro­mot­ed to lead­er­ship busi­ness posi­tions in organizations.

Health

If you’re look­ing to become part of a grow­ing sec­tor, choose to be in the health indus­try! You can grab any of the 1.8 mil­lion job open­ings until 2032 with the right edu­ca­tion or train­ing. A career in Health lets you help peo­ple while you enjoy career stability.

Health pro­fes­sion­als pre­vent and treat dis­eases. They have the knowl­edge, train­ing, and capac­i­ty to con­tribute indi­rect­ly to this process. If you wish to become one, con­sid­er these:

• Health­care Admin­is­tra­tion Degree
• Com­mu­ni­ty Health Edu­ca­tion Degree
• Health Infor­ma­tion Man­age­ment (HIM) Degree
• Nurs­ing Degree
• Pub­lic Health Degree

If you are a Busi­ness Admin­is­tra­tion or Soci­ol­o­gy major, you can also eas­i­ly tran­si­tion to a health career. With the right degree, you can become a health care work­er, an admin­is­tra­tor, a researcher, or a pub­lic health expert!

Who should consider a Health major?

Do you find it fas­ci­nat­ing how health ser­vices can change lives? If you enjoy help­ing peo­ple find a way to live health­i­er, earn a Health degree! If you’re detail-ori­ent­ed and deter­mined, this major is for you as well.

Social Sciences and History

Social sci­ences and His­to­ry help us under­stand human behav­ior. These majors also look at his­tor­i­cal events to explain how they shaped, and con­tin­ue to shape, old and mod­ern society.

Social Sci­ences and His­to­ry majors explore old and mod­ern soci­eties. By doing so, they devel­op their research, ana­lyt­i­cal, and crit­i­cal think­ing skills.

You can get a job in these sec­tors and indus­try types:

• Edu­ca­tion
• Research
• Jour­nal­ism
• Pub­lic policy
• Social work
• Busi­ness

Who should consider a major in Social Sciences and History?

Do you enjoy explor­ing how com­mu­ni­ties evolve? Do you seek answers from the past to under­stand the present and pre­dict the future? Social Sci­ences and His­to­ry lets you take a clos­er look at human per­spec­tives, traits, and behav­ior. You can also advo­cate for active civic engagement.

Engineering

Engi­neers have a promis­ing future far as job prospects go! The demand for Engi­neer­ing majors will grow 18% until 2032.

Engi­neers are inno­v­a­tive prob­lem solvers. They are cre­ators with a keen eye for detail. We often con­sid­er them as the brains behind mod­ern bridges and struc­tur­al build­ings. They also do impor­tant work in med­i­cine and the environment.

The term “engi­neer­ing” is broad with many sub­fields. These are the five main branches: 

• Mechan­i­cal Engineering
• Elec­tri­cal Engineering
• Civ­il Engineering
• Chem­i­cal Engineering
• Indus­tri­al Engineering

Engi­neers are sought-after pro­fes­sion­als. Depend­ing on their area of focus, they work in design, con­struc­tion, tech­nol­o­gy, and research.

Who should consider a major in Engineering?

Are you a nat­ur­al at prob­lem-solv­ing? Do you enjoy dis­cov­er­ing or invent­ing? Do tech­no­log­i­cal advance­ments pique your inter­est? An Engi­neer­ing degree could be your best option!

Biological and Biomedical Sciences

Bio­med­ical and Bio­med­ical Sci­ences explore bio­log­i­cal mech­a­nisms. These majors pre­pare stu­dents for roles in:

• med­ical research (infec­tious dis­eases, genet­ics, and neuroscience)
• diag­nos­tics
• health­care delivery

With a Bio­log­i­cal and Bio­med­ical Sci­ences major, you can work in phar­ma­ceu­ti­cals, biotech­nol­o­gy, and health­care sec­tors. You will improve health out­comes, pro­vide treat­ments, and pro­mote pub­lic health initiatives. 

Bio­log­i­cal and Bio­med­ical Sci­ence majors often pur­sue research-focused grad­u­ate pro­grams. You can also study Med­i­cine, Den­tistry, and Vet­eri­nary Science.

Who should consider a major in Biological and Biomedical Sciences?

If you always had an inter­est in biol­o­gy and med­i­cine, this major is for you! You will excel in this major if you have high ana­lyt­i­cal capa­bil­i­ties. Do you enjoy com­plex research and work well with oth­ers? Pur­sue a Bio­log­i­cal and Bio­med­ical Sci­ences degree!

Don’t see your­self pur­su­ing any of the top 5 most pop­u­lar col­lege majors men­tioned? Per­haps these oth­er five majors will suit you better: 

Psychology

• Career options: clin­i­cal psy­chol­o­gist, coun­selor, human resources spe­cial­ist, researcher, educator
• Medi­an annu­al wage: $85,330

Computer and Information Sciences

• Career options: data sci­en­tist, soft­ware devel­op­er, cyber­se­cu­ri­ty spe­cial­ist, net­work admin­is­tra­tor, AI specialist
• Medi­an annu­al wage: $100,530 

Visual and Performing Arts

• Career options: musi­cian, dancer, visu­al artist, the­ater actor, design­er, arts man­age­ment specialist
• Medi­an annu­al wage: $53,140 

Communication and Journalism

• Career options: soft­ware devel­op­er, cyber­se­cu­ri­ty spe­cial­ist, data sci­en­tist, net­work admin­is­tra­tor, AI expert, pub­lic rela­tions spe­cial­ist, media specialist
• Medi­an annu­al wage: $100,530

Education

• Career options: Ear­ly child­hood edu­ca­tor, sec­ondary edu­ca­tion teacher, edu­ca­tion­al admin­is­tra­tor, cur­ricu­lum devel­op­ment spe­cial­ist, consultant
• Medi­an annu­al wage: $80,840 (post­sec­ondary teachers)

Undecided About Your College Major? Know What You Want and Where You’re Good At!

If you’re like many stu­dents, you might be clue­less about which degree suits you best. There are no one-size-fits-all bach­e­lor’s degree maze solu­tions, but you can ask these ques­tions jour­ney easy:

• Do I have crit­i­cal think­ing skills?
• Am I a good communicator?
• Do I enjoy find­ing solu­tions to problems?
• Am I drawn to math­e­mat­ics? Or do I like writ­ing more?
• Do I like work­ing with my hands?
• Do I love help­ing others? 
• Do I like work­ing with a team? Or do I pre­fer being independent?
• How are my lead­er­ship skills?

When nav­i­gat­ing the bach­e­lor’s degree jour­ney, the begin­ning is always the hard­est. Start by iden­ti­fy­ing your strengths and weak­ness­es. Know what your val­ues are. Find out what activ­i­ties excit­ed you and keep you engaged.

In the end, choose the degree pro­gram that puts your skills to good use!

Frequently Asked Questions

Relat­ed:

Niche Col­lege Degrees

Sources:

US Bureau of Labor Statistics

Zip­pia