Is College Worth It? Here’s What Questions You Should Be Asking Instead
The Do No Harm earnings test goes into effect in July 2026, and it’s prompting a lot of questions about the value of a college education. It also narrows the focus specifically to earnings: If a degree that gets you a job that pays more than you would with just a high school diploma, the degree was “worth it.” But that narrow framing misses some of the biggest considerations students should be taking into account when determining whether or not to pursue college. This 4-part series asks—and attempts to answer—the key questions students should be asking to determine the value of college right now:
- Is college right for every student right out of high school?
- When does the debt outweigh the prestige?
- Does what I want to study affect whether and where I should go to college?
- Where’s the real salary and placement data?
How Much Should Your Major Matter?
One of my friends in college was a fantastic writer. He loved English classes but ended up majoring in bioengineering. Why? Because his dad said, “If you wanted to study English, you could have done that at the local community college.” The implication? An English major was not worth the Rice tuition. Perhaps unsurprisingly, this same friend ended up pivoting careers in his twenties, though not to become an English teacher. He got a master’s in computer science that brought him into machine learning. Neither bioengineering nor English ultimately factored into his career.
A few other friends actually did get a B.A. in English from Rice but also ended up pivoting in their twenties. One pursued a second B.A. in math, another did a computer science boot camp, and a third became a doctor. Honestly, when I think about it, for most of my friends—and me—our undergraduate majors were a pretty terrible predictor of where we’d end up, career wise.
So how much should you consider your intended major when picking a college or university?
There’s no question that certain majors will result in a higher salary than others. According to the Postsecondary Commission’s study on degree value at public institutions in Texas, engineering and architecture majors significantly outearn every other major, though business and economics are also wise bets. Majoring in a field with a higher projected salary could justify spending more on a degree if you’re confident in what you want to study and the school has a strong program. My brother, for instance, knew he wanted to be an aerospace engineer. This led him to Embry-Riddle, which is known for its outstanding aerospace engineering programs. He went on to build drones. Tuition (and major) justified.
My brother may have known what he wanted to do at seventeen, but not everyone does. Nearly half of undergraduates change their major before they graduate. And even if you stick with the same major, it’s not a guarantee that you will pursue a specific career path.
I found myself attempting to plan for this kind of uncertainty as a high school senior. I was ultimately torn between going into journalism at Northwestern or studying economics and statistics at Rice (but still working on their newspaper). I was editor of my high school newspaper and knew I wanted to continue journalism in some capacity, but I was worried by all of the “journalism is dead/dying” conversations I’d get into whenever I talked about pursuing it as a career. Ultimately, I chose Rice because I felt like a weekly newspaper would be a more manageable commitment than a daily one, and my impression was that it would be easier for me to pivot to a different major at Rice if I changed my mind.
Providing insurance for ambiguity in my future career path very much did shape my final decision about where I went to college. In my case, the only part of my original plan that I stuck with was working on the Rice Thresher. Given I changed my major to history and French, high school me made a surprisingly wise choice in prioritizing flexibility. That said, while flexibility can be a boon, being too indecisive about your major can come with its own real costs. (It’s not impossible to pivot from English to engineering as a college junior, but it likely means you’ll spend another two to three years catching up on the foundational courses that scaffold into the major.) The Postsecondary Commission study shows the boost will be bigger in some fields than others, but you get one either way, so the best degree is the one that you’ll finish.
My friend’s dad was right to consider whether tuition was worth it, but he was wrong to think that the major was the best measure of that worth. Whatever institution you choose, your tuition buys much more than classes in your major. Many schools have distribution requirements or general education courses that invite you to consider different fields and topics. You’re also shaped by the extracurriculars you take on, the fellow students you meet and befriend, the professors who take an interest in you, and the internships and networking doors your institution unlocks. These—more so than your major—are what will make your degree “worth it.”
Your priorities and interests may change, so, when picking a school, prioritize the highest-quality education you can access. You will have more information about the overall quality of the institution than what your career will look like at 30. If you’re torn between a few different majors, consider which institution offers the strongest opportunities in every major you’re considering, along with how easy it is to double-major or minor or change your major. Seek out schools with small student–teacher ratios, residential systems that encourage you to socialize outside your major (like Rice’s residential college system), and research opportunities that are open to sophomores. Factor in graduate school acceptance rates, just in case you pivot to a career that requires a different degree. And make sure the tuition you are paying matches the resources you’re getting.
Pick the school that will still have been a good decision even if you change your mind. It’s very likely you will.
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Sources
- American Academy of Arts & Sciences / Humanities Indicators — “Matriculation to Completion: How College Students Move Between Majors” (September 2025). amacad.org
- Postsecondary Commission — Texas Statewide Study of Postsecondary Value-Added Earnings (2026). texas-psc.org
