Student Choice gives us a fascinating look at the popularity of different college majors over time. They collected data from 2015 to 2023 and determined what percentage of students studied which majors. They created a pie chart for each year showing us the ranking of majors by popularity and how that’s remained steady or changed.
This is the list of majors by popularity in 2023:
- Business
- Nursing
- Psychology
- Education
- Biology
- Criminal Justice
- Computer Science
- Health Professions
- Accounting
- Engineering
- RN/LPN Nursing
- Communications
- Computer Information Technology
- Mechanical Engineering
- Fine Arts
- Exercise Science
- Political Science
- Health
- Social Welfare
- Music
- English
- Economics
- Graphic Design
- Architecture
- Liberal Arts
We can see that Business and Nursing took huge slices of the pie and that remained consistent for each year the team studied. Business was the most popular and Nursing the second most popular. This comes as no surprise. Business offers opportunities in a huge range of industries, and people associate Business majors with high salaries. As for Nursing this certification is always in high demand. Nurses can expect a lot of job openings in the field and decent salaries with opportunities for specialization and advancement.
As for the third most popular major, we’ve seen more change. For years, Education claimed the number three position, but after 2020 the popularity of teaching plummeted as teachers criticized the abundance of burdens they were given during the Covid-19 pandemic for pay that just isn’t high enough. Psychology rose to take its place, an expanding field adding more job opportunities each year. With platforms offering certified counselors the ability to practice online, it’s no wonder this is beginning to look like an appealing career path.\
