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NH's Top Majors

Published Friday Sep 13, 2013

Author COLLIN SPINNEY

New Hampshire students may have the highest debt in the country according to the Project on Student Debt, but some have done their homework when it comes to ensuring a return on their investment.   

The number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in NH has increased 10 percent between 2008 and 2012, and many grads are setting themselves on a path toward high paying jobs.

Nearly 21 percent of NH’s 2012 undergraduate graduating class were business majors, the highest percent of any major. Psychology and social sciences together accounted for 17.7 percent of graduates, the next highest percentage. The fastest growing fields were conservation, math, biology and engineering while the fields losing the most students were theology, philosophy and liberal arts.

Those stats bode well for employers looking for math, science and engineering grads—majors that are a sure ticket to a job offer before graduation. “We know there are businesses struggling to fill high skill tech positions,” and that “the number of high skilled jobs left unfilled is a concern,” says Thomas Horgan, president and CEO of the NH College and University Council.

When it came to associate degrees, health care and business topped the list, though the largest increases over the last five years came from liberal arts (40 percent) and psychology (30 percent). For master’s and Ph.D. programs, law, health care and business were top choices.

 

Sources: College Navigator, National Center for Education Statistics; NH Department of Education, Division of Higher Education; U.S. Department of Education

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