{"id":531,"date":"2017-02-15T15:22:16","date_gmt":"2017-02-15T20:22:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nacacadmitted.wpengine.com\/wordpress\/?p=531"},"modified":"2017-02-15T15:22:16","modified_gmt":"2017-02-15T20:22:16","slug":"are-double-majors-worth-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/2017\/02\/15\/are-double-majors-worth-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Double Majors Worth It?"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Helping students weigh the pros and cons of a double major?<\/p>\n

New research suggests the strategy isn\u2019t a sure ticket to a bigger paycheck. Although 20 percent of college graduates leave school with a double major, they typically don\u2019t experience increases in wages or job satisfaction, according to a paper published in a recent edition of the Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe found some evidence that certain combinations of double majors confer advantages over a single major, but they weren\u2019t overwhelming,\u201d Joni Hersch, one of the paper\u2019s authors, recently told The Wall Street Journal<\/em><\/a>.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is some support to the notion that being able to look at problems from different perspectives enhances creativity\u2026but students who combine liberal arts with a business or STEM major don\u2019t earn more money than if they majored in business or STEM alone,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n

Although a double major is a viable option for undergrads who want to pursue disparate interests, students should know the choice may ultimately limit their course options, Hersch said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI personally think double-majoring becomes too rigid. There are requirements for both majors, limiting the number of elective courses such as political science, art, and philosophy, that students can take,\u201d Hersch said. \u201cMost double majors are within a single discipline, like two business majors or two STEM majors. So, that\u2019s where there is a loss.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read the full interview<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Admitted writer\/editor Mary Stegmeir welcomes additional comments and story ideas at\u00a0<\/em>mstegmeir@nacacnet.org<\/em><\/strong><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Helping students weigh the pros and cons of a double major? New research suggests the strategy isn\u2019t a sure ticket to a bigger paycheck. Although 20 percent of college graduates leave school with a double major, they typically don\u2019t experience increases in wages or job satisfaction, according to a paper published in a recent edition … Continue reading Are Double Majors Worth It?<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[267],"class_list":["post-531","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-college-admission","tag-college-majors"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Mary Stegmeir","author_link":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/author\/mstegmeir\/"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/peWmJq-8z","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=531"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/531\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=531"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=531"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/admitted.nacacnet.org\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=531"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}