Pardon the bad pun, but if you’re a recent college graduate holding a degree with promising job prospects and hoping for a fast-track into a fulfilling career… you’re out of luck. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that the U.S unemployment rate currently stands at 4.2% as of May 2025.
While an average college grad can expect a higher lifetime earnings increase of $1.2 million according to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce, the unfulfilled potential of some college degrees can be particularly heartbreaking. When students graduate from college, they’re often surprised at how misaligned their career opportunities are from their degree.
Here are 15 of the degrees that left graduates with the highest unemployment rates in 2025. We’ll take a closer look at what made these degrees fall so short, and what that means for the future.
Anthropology
Anthropology majors may find that job hunting is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Anthropology graduates had the lowest rate of job placement directly in their field, at 27% of all college graduates, according to a 2025 study conducted by EarthWeb and the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
It’s easy to tell a prospective student that studying anthropology will help them be a critical thinker, but the actual career paths are pretty narrow. Many anthropology majors end up in various industries, such as market research. These roles utilize their analytical skills effectively, but they’re nothing like the Indiana Jones-like dreams that drew many students to the field in the first place.
Communications and Journalism
Jobless rates for journalism majors hover around 6.5%, while communication majors fare slightly better at 5.8%. Still, the journalism industry hasn’t had the greatest decade. According to 2021 Pew Research, there was a 26% decline in newsroom employment from 2008 to 2020, reflecting the seismic shift from traditional to online media.
Journalism is dying, yes. But telling stories isn’t. In fact, it’s re-emerging and thriving in other formats. Podcasts, social media, and video content aren’t going anywhere. Upskill in SEO, podcast editing, or social media management to keep your skills relevant and in demand.
Environmental Science
Environmental Science may be the study of choice for some of the most ardent nature enthusiasts, but it is far from a utopian employment situation. Despite a national average unemployment rate of 2.5% for those with a bachelor’s degree, the environmental science major has a much gloomier statistic, with a near 5.1% unemployment rate.
Lacking a career pipeline and oftentimes requiring professional experience or higher-level degrees, the environmental science major faces a challenging job market upon graduation.
Film, Video, and Photographic Arts
Lights, camera… unemployment? A word of warning, the film and photography industry is, as the cliché suggests, cut-throat competitive. For starters, a majority of positions are contract or freelance gigs with no benefits. This means that as a graduate of such a major, your income is likely to be irregular, and with no guaranteed security, your odds of unemployment are 8.0%.
The good news? The creator economy is on the rise. YouTube, for example, accounted for $40 billion in total revenue last year. About $29 billion of that was advertising revenue, while $11 billion was generated from subscriptions, according to Business Insider, so there’s money to be made here. Learn up on video editing, motion graphics, content strategy, or new skills like these, and find a niche that works for you.
Commercial Art & Graphic Design
The unemployment rate for graduates with degrees in commercial art and graphic design stands at approximately 6.0%. Over the past few years, marketplaces for freelancers have experienced significant growth, particularly in fields such as design, writing, and marketing. According to the Upwork 2025 comparison guide and the Skydo freelance market overview, freelancers now face a crowded landscape of gigs that are making it harder to compete.
To thrive, you need to be diversified. Many fine arts majors have successfully transitioned to other careers, such as UX design or tattoo artistry. Most fine arts grads, however, find that continuing a rewarding career in arts means doing something other than painting canvases or sculpting masterpieces.
Sociology
A sociology degree instills students with critical awareness of the society around them. It also makes them poor fits for the most in-demand jobs. Shrinking budgets for social services haven’t helped either, and a 2023 to 2033 job outlook shows social worker positions growing at a modest 7%, as reported by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Sociology grads have had to get creative to enter the job market. Many are turning to careers in human resources, grant writing, or even educating others.
Hospitality and Tourism
With an unemployment rate of 6.5%, the hospitality industry serves as a stark reminder that the challenges of the pandemic are far from behind us. Even as we pass the five-year mark since COVID-19 shuttered the world’s airports and borders, the hospitality sector continues to show a sluggish and uneven recovery. A further threat is the increased application of technology and automation in the sector.
Automated self-check-in kiosks, digital concierge services, and other such technologies are increasingly replacing some of the traditional front-line, entry-level jobs in this sector. However, if the forecast by the World Travel and Tourism Council is anything to go by, travel and tourism jobs are expected to increase, but competition will also grow as digital disruption continues to alter the skill set required to keep up.
Philosophy and Religious Studies
Philosophy is about searching for life’s answers. While that sounds empowering, it doesn’t necessarily have a very good track record at pointing the way to a stable income and a successful career. The unemployment rate for Philosophy and Religious Studies majors immediately after graduation is 9.5%, according to the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce.
But that at least dips to 7.3% for experienced workers and 4.0% for those with advanced degrees. Philosophy and Religious Studies is a niche field that requires strong, in-depth, critical thinking skills. These majors are effective in problem-solving and critical analysis, but for those seeking a clear career path without further specializations, such as law school or ethics programs, the options are pretty limited.
Ethnic & Cultural Studies
Ethnic and Cultural Studies majors develop a profound understanding of the social, cultural, and historical forces that shape our world. Their studies emphasize the arts, public discourse, and the significance of representation, all of which influence their daily lives and their perspective on the professional landscape. However, with an unemployment rate of approximately 4.4%, transitioning into the workforce can present challenges for graduates in this field.
This is despite an increasing awareness and need for the skills that these majors are learning. According to a recent study by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, race and ethnic studies departments reported nearly 95,000 undergrads enrolled in their courses in 2023. This makes it one of the highest-demand fields among students, but also one that could benefit from a clearer career path.
Public Policy and Law
Public policy and law majors experience a 7.4% unemployment rate, one of the highest in the U.S. Policy has stalled, and the legal industry hasn’t been exempt from that.
Law graduates are entering an increasingly competitive job market. According to the American Bar Association, law school enrollment rose by 4.76% in 2024, reaching 39,689 students. In this fiercely competitive landscape, a high GPA alone is no longer enough. Securing a job now requires strong connections, meaningful internships, and relevant experience to stand out from the crowd.
Liberal Arts
Liberal arts graduates face an unemployment rate of approximately 7.9%, highlighting the challenges of bridging their broad-based education with today’s specialized job market. While these degrees foster critical thinking and effective communication, the skills they develop often don’t align with the specific qualifications that hiring managers prioritize.
A study conducted by Burning Glass Technologies found that only about 25% of entry-level positions are accessible to liberal arts graduates based solely on their degree. The bottom line is that liberal arts students have to promote themselves more aggressively. They need to sell themselves in a package that no one’s going to see on a resume.
Architecture
Architects get to sketch beautiful dream houses and buildings, but in reality, obtaining a license to build them and navigating the ebb and flow of the real estate market is challenging. According to data from YCharts, the current unemployment rate for architects is 1.8% as of May, but there is some good news on that front.
The employment growth in this field is expected to increase by 8% between 2023 and 2033, which is higher than the average for most occupations. Of course, the challenging part for recent graduates is passing the ARE exams and accumulating the necessary internship hours before obtaining a license as an architect.
English Language
When people hear “English major,” they often think of careers in teaching, journalism, or creative writing. Unfortunately, opportunities in these fields have diminished over time, much like the ever-shrinking salaries for teachers.
Fortunately, the Robert Half 2025 job guide highlights eight roles that English majors can excel in, including copywriting, content strategy, public relations, and technical writing. All these careers prize the skills taught in an English degree: clarity, persuasiveness, and the ability to tell a story.
History
The study of History may be among the most adaptable and intriguing bachelor’s degrees available, but on the employment side, it gets a little murky. The Stacker 2024 report indicates the unemployment rate for a History major is around 5.8%, one of the highest for bachelor’s degrees.
The problem is that there aren’t many clear career pathways for history majors. While some graduates find positions teaching, in archives, or at museums, these opportunities are highly competitive and relatively scarce.
Psychology
Psychology may be among the most common undergraduate majors, and what is not to love about a major that studies people? But when it comes to the clarity of this degree for post-grad life, the field can be a little misleading.
Many aspiring psychologists are often disappointed to discover that a bachelor’s degree in psychology alone does not qualify them to work as a licensed clinician or counselor. As a result, psychology graduates, particularly those who do not pursue advanced degrees, face a relatively high unemployment rate of 4.7%.
Disclaimer – This list is solely the author’s opinion based on research and publicly available information. It is not intended to be professional advice.
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