10 College Degrees Losing Value, According to Harvard – Better Alternatives to Study

Oct 13, 2025, 17:00 IST

College Degrees Losing Value: According to a Harvard study, automation and skill obsolescence are making many degrees less valuable. If they don't continuously improve their skills, majors like computer science and engineering will see their earnings premiums rapidly erode. Similar to other degrees, business and humanities degrees are impacted by market saturation and employers' demands for specialized credentials rather than general ones.

College Degrees Losing Value: Students growing concerns about the long-term career usefulness of their majors have led Harvard researchers and related economists to do extensive research on the ways in which factors such as job sorting and credential value affect degree returns. Important research on degrees with declining market value was conducted in 2020 by Harvard labor economists David J. Deming and Kadeem Noray. They found that over the course of a person's career, the financial returns for graduates with some traditionally valuable applied degrees specifically, business, engineering, and computer science tend to drop off significantly. The quick obsolescence of employment abilities in these industries is partly to blame for this rapid degradation of value.

Deming and Noray specifically stated that "The earnings premium for graduates majoring in technology-intensive subjects declines rapidly over time as workers sort out of faster-changing occupations." This important discovery highlights an important fact: having a degree in a technology-intensive field boosts earnings initially, but that advantage quickly wanes unless the worker is willing to keep learning new skills and avoids being placed in less technologically demanding roles as their initial knowledge ages. The report highlights that without deliberate professional development, the conventional wisdom that a four-year degree guarantees lifetime employment and good earnings is becoming less and less relevant.

List Of Top 10 Degrees That Are Losing Value

According to a study, automation and skill obsolescence reduce the value of many degrees, including those in computer science and engineering. Without ongoing upskilling or increased specialization, fields like psychology and the humanities have limited marketability.

Degree	Core Reason for Diminishing Value
General Business Administration (MBA included)	Rapid market saturation and shifting hiring preferences have softened long-term earnings and returns.
Computer Science	The high entry-level premium diminishes rapidly due to fast job skill obsolescence, necessitating constant upskilling.
Mechanical Engineering	The field is increasingly being affected by automation and the trend toward offshore manufacturing and design work.
Accounting	Automation and the increasing use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in audit and ledger tasks reduce long-term job growth prospects.
Biochemistry	It provides a narrow academic focus with limited pathways to high-paying jobs without significant advanced, specialized, or medical study.
Psychology (Undergraduate)	Offers limited direct career pathways and generally requires extensive advanced study (Master's or Ph.D.) to realize professional returns.
English and Humanities	Declining student enrollment figures often reflect general career uncertainties and lower perceived marketability of skills.
Sociology and Social Sciences	Similar to humanities, these fields face challenges with less direct job alignment and lower initial market integration.
History	Graduates typically see lower mid-career wage premiums compared to technical or vocationally-focused degrees.
Philosophy	While critical thinking is highly valued, the skills acquired are less directly marketable for specific, high-paying career roles without further training.

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Broader Erosion in Degree Value

Even graduates with prominent MBAs were finding it more and more difficult to swiftly land top-tier jobs, according to reports from early 2025 from schools like Harvard Business School, which pointed to a wider decline in the value of traditional business qualifications. This tendency is not limited to business; since 2013, The Harvard Crimson has observed a sharp fall in the popularity of majors in the humanities and social sciences.

The decrease is a result of an increasing alignment between corporate need and student preferences, with STEM and applied fields which provide more defined career pathways being given priority. A Harvard Business School paper from 2022 described the "degree reset" tendency that is currently affecting several degrees. This reset sees employers increasingly dropping generic degree requirements and instead demanding clear, specific, and demonstrable skills that directly relate to the job role, further devaluing the broad academic major alone.

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10 College Degrees Losing Value, According to Harvard – Better Alternatives to Study

List Of Top 10 Degrees That Are Losing Value

Broader Erosion in Degree Value

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