The Wall Street Journal recently bore the solemn headline, “Parents’ Fears Confirmed: Liberal Arts Students Earn Less.”
The Atlantic also reported on the data and the analysis from the WSJ. As is summed up:
WSJ also released a Tweet which may be helpful in summing up the data.
Parents’ fears confirmed: Liberal arts students earn less https://t.co/P7zylCuQKU pic.twitter.com/EPEtpHWRb6
— WSJ News Graphics (@WSJGraphics) November 4, 2015
Still, it’s worth noting, as the Atlantic, and Bustle have also done, that the data may be considered incomplete since it doesn’t breakdown students by major, and only accounts for those receiving federal student aid.
Bustle not only made the point that “the data is incomplete,” but also put forth an entire article in defense of liberal arts colleges, “Here’s Why Liberal Arts Colleges Have a Future, No Matter How Much Their Graduates Are Making.” Their reasons ranged from thoughtful to a little more creative, with some fun memes thrown in there. Their five reasons included:
- “A Liberal Arts Education Is Malleable”
- “Overall Satisfaction Is Not Correlated with Earnings”
- “College, Regardless of Major, Is Rarely a Regret”
- “Employers Want Well-Rounded Employees”
- “The Data Is Complete”
Why Bustle may be trying to make worthwhile points, the WSJ still makes a greater point of what parents fear after they have shelled out so much money for their children to receive an education, which will then in term hopefully earn them enough money to pay it all back.
Earning power is still or at least ought to be a major consideration. It will be interesting to see what effect, if any, the data has on college enrollment at such coveted liberal arts schools.
