A college degree remains one of the most reliable ways to increase lifetime earnings. But not all degrees are created equal, and not all students have the same opportunity to make informed decisions about what they study. A recent report from Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce illustrates just how wide the range of outcomes can be. While some majors lead to salaries well into six figures, others fall closer to fifty thousand dollars. And those numbers, while useful, do not explain how students end up in those majors to begin with.
That is the part of the conversation we need to focus on more. For many students, especially those who are the first in their families to attend college, choosing a major is anything but simple. The path from interest to degree to career is often unclear. And if colleges do not help students connect the dots, outcomes will continue to reflect access gaps that have little to do with talent or potential.
At many universities, students are asked to declare a major early in their college career, sometimes before they have had a chance to explore different fields. For students with family support and professional networks, that early decision is often informed by conversations at home. For others, it can feel like a guess made without context.
Some students broaden their options by adding a second major or a minor. That can be a smart move, but only when paired with strong advising and a clear understanding of how those choices connect to real opportunities. Without that support, even a well-rounded academic record can leave students unsure of where to go next.
At Pace University, we see the realities of this every day. Many of our students are the first in their families to go to college. They bring ambition, curiosity, and drive. What they often lack is a map. Our responsibility is to help them build one.
That starts with clear, practical advising. We help students understand what majors involve, what kinds of jobs they lead to, and what skills are valued across industries. We also connect them with faculty who bring real-world insight and with employers and mentors who can offer perspective beyond the classroom.
This guidance is paired with hands-on experience. Internships, summer jobs, research opportunities, and service work help students test their interests and build a professional foundation while they are still in school.
Pace actively supports students in securing internships and field experiences across disciplines, resulting in more than 9,000 placements during the 2024 academic year alone. Further, our Community Impact Internship program has placed more than 300 students, many from liberal arts majors, into nonprofit organizations across social services, health, education, and the arts.
The Georgetown report shows that even within broad categories like STEM or humanities, earnings vary widely. A degree in computer science offers a very different outlook than one in biology. But majors do not always determine the future. Many graduates build successful careers in fields unrelated to their major. That flexibility matters, but it often relies on strong communication, adaptability, and experience. These are traits that do not appear on a transcript.
Still, for most students, especially those not planning to pursue graduate or professional school, the major they choose shapes their early career path in real and lasting ways. Institutions need to support that choice with real information and structure.
At Pace, we combine academic rigor with access to opportunity. Our New York City and Westchester County campuses give students a direct connection to employers, research settings, public institutions, and nonprofits. Whether they are studying accounting, performing arts, nursing, or political science, they are putting their education to work in real time.
This connection between learning and application gives students more than just a credential. It helps them understand how what they are studying connects to where they want to go. They are not choosing a major in the abstract. They are exploring, building skills, and preparing to enter a workforce that expects more than subject knowledge.
There will always be debate about the value of higher education. But it should not ignore the role institutions play in shaping outcomes. The value of a degree depends not only on the field of study, but on how colleges help students use it.
Students need more than academic choice. They need early opportunities to apply what they learn and support that makes those experiences possible. When we build those systems, we help more students move forward with clarity and purpose.
If we want better outcomes for students, we need to redesign the systems around them. That means aligning advising with labor market realities, building more experiential learning into every major, and ensuring that career preparation is treated as a core part of the academic experience. These are actions every college and university can take. And we should.