Last month we chronicled what careers will make you the most money in the blog article, 4 Careers Worth $100K. Data collected from a 2009 survey done by the U.S. Census Bureau shows that there is a clear payoff for having a bachelor’s degree. According to the chart from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce showing “The Economic Value of College Majors,” displays a very comfortable salary for business degrees. Is the salary representative of the actual work put in by students during their undergraduate studies when trying to attain their business degree though?
The results from the annual report done by the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) suggest a conclusion leading interpreters to believe that business majors are the “slackers of the higher-ed world.” The NSSE works to measure what academic practices are effective on college campuses these days, as well as to survey includes results from students at 683 American and 68 Canadian schools. According to the survey results, students who were majoring in business studied the least among all of their college peers. The breakdown of the results (as represented in an article at CBSNews.com) is shown below:
Time per Week Spent Studying by Major
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BUSINESS = 14 hours
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SOCIAL SCIENCES = 14 hours
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EDUCATION = 15 hours
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ARTS & HUMANITIES = 17 hours
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BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES = 17 hours
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PHYSICAL SCIENCES = 18 hours
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ENGINEERING = 20 hours
Although social science majors also studied an average of just 14 hours a week, a greater percentage of them studied more than 20 hours a week, compared to only a small percentage of business students studying that much. To be fair to business majors, the statistics represented in this article and the survey will likely vary depending on the specific business program be considered. However, with the large number of universities surveyed, there has to be a bit of truth to the arguement. Potential reasons for the low average study hours? It could be because business degrees don’t usually require extensive writing and instead often require lots of group work. Perhaps that’s why nearly 25% of college students gradate with a business degree!
How many hours do you study for classes in an average week? Do you agree with what the survey results suggest? Sound off in the comment box below!