A degree is a great investment, but it’s hard to know which one will give you the most bang for your buck. A lot of people graduate with degrees that they never used.
For example, if you graduate with a degree in art history and never work as an art historian, then the time and money you spent on that degree were not worth it.
That’s why we created this list of the 15 most useless degrees in 2022.
To help you make an educated decision about your future education and career path, we’ve compiled this list of the degrees that are likely to be out of demand by 2022.
Read on to learn more about what these degrees entail and how they may be rendered useless by 2022. The world is changing at an alarming rate.
With new innovations and discoveries, what was once a must-have degree can now be considered useless.
Many of the most popular industries will change drastically in the next five years. Jobs that would have been in demand in 2022 are now deemed irrelevant.
Now here is an interesting fact, a survey of 1,000 students including current, prospective, undergraduate, and graduates made by BestColleges showed that 69% of the students believe there’s no need for a college education in order to be successful.
These are the most useless degrees in 2022.
1. Advertising
We all know that traditional advertising is no longer effective.
With the introduction of social media, it is now more important than ever to have a presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
However, with the rise of new forms of marketing, including influencer marketing and digital marketing, traditional advertising is no longer needed.
In my personal opinion, I believed that traditional advertising will be wiped out in the next five years.
With more people using ad blockers and a shift to digital media, traditional ads will no longer be a viable marketing strategy or at least one of the least preferable.
If you want to stay in the advertising world, be prepared to pay the cost. Year after year advertising cost is rising.
According to Statista, in 2020 just in the U.S alone, 240 billion dollars were spent on advertising, 153 billion was on ads.
2. Anthropology And Archeology
Anthropology is the study of human societies and how they change over time. Archeology is the study of past human life and culture by analyzing artifacts, architecture, and other cultural remains.
People who graduate with a degree in anthropology or archeology are typically fascinated by human existence, but these degrees are becoming less relevant as time goes on.
With rapid advancements in technology, industries are changing rapidly. The demand for jobs relating to these subjects is dwindling.
Some anthropologists have argued that the relevance of these degrees will eventually return as there are always new things to learn about humans and their history.
However, this can be disputed because it is unknown how long it will take for society to go back to its way of life prior to technological advances.
What use is an anthropologist or archeologist if no one needs their expertise?
3. Fashion Design
The fashion industry is one of the most dynamic industries of the twenty-first century.
With rapid changes in technology and consumer interests, it’s been hard for many designers to keep up. In the next five years, this will change.
It’s predicted that fashion design will become a less desirable degree, as it becomes more accessible with the use of technology and easier to find quality clothing at an affordable price.
With 3.8% US Employment Growth from 2017 to 2022 and an average annual salary of $52,210 it’s one of the toughest industries to keep alive.
With new technology like 3D printing, it becomes more difficult to justify spending four years of your life on a degree that will be obsolete sooner than later.
4. Tourism And Hospitality Management
Tourism and hospitality management may not be the most useless degree in 2022, but it is trending towards being useless.
With more people traveling for leisure, jobs in tourism are expected to decrease by 3.5 million jobs globally by 2022.
With the rise of globalization, it’s likely that more people will travel from place to place, staying in hotels or renting homes. This eliminates the need for someone who specializes in this area.
5. Communications
Communications degrees will be one of the most useless degrees in 2022.
With the invention of social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook, communications have become more about connecting with people online than it is about delivering speeches in front of crowds.
Communications can be useful in some careers, but telecommunications companies are ceasing the need for customer service representatives.
Now, it is well known that artificial intelligence is and will replace lots of jobs in the near future, social media managers will not be the exception.
6. Education
Education degrees will be considered useless in five years.
With the rise in technology and many different forms to make money online nowadays, many people believe that it is no longer necessary to go to college for a degree.
Fortunately, this doesn’t mean that education degrees are completely useless. There are plenty of careers that require an education degree.
There are also many careers that would benefit from a degree in education, such as a teacher or professor.
7. Criminal Justice
Criminal justice is an often-cited degree to have. It’s a popular choice for people who are looking to get into law enforcement.
But, in the next five years, criminal justice will be one of the most useless degrees. With the rise in technology, the need for people with these skills will decline.
There have been 122,741 awarded degrees in criminal justice in 2019, which is a decrease of 0.6% from past years.
The following is a chart of the top 12 majors in the U.S that don’t pay off.
With cameras on every corner and social media accounts that can track what you say, do and post, there is no need for someone to go out into the world and collect evidence.
All of this information can be found with a few clicks of a button.
8. Creative Writing
Creative writing is not a necessary skill for the future, no need to spend money on a degree. With the introduction of artificial intelligence in writing, nowadays anyone can write an article or a book.
It would be a matter of practicing in order to be relatively good at it.
With the abundance of information available on the internet, people are more inclined to use what’s readily available rather than pay someone to write it for them.
This is one degree that may not be relevant in five years.
9. Theater Arts
Theater arts may not be worth pursuing if you’re looking to be a professional actor.
If you’re just an aspiring actor and want to get on stage, this degree might suit your needs.
However, it’s unlikely that the demand for theater arts will remain high in 2022, and that means that your chances of getting a job with this degree are slim.
In fact, in the last few decades, theater has been surpassed by film and television as a form of entertainment.
As a result, people with a theater arts degree will have fewer opportunities in the future.
10. Social Work
Social work is often ranked as one of the most useless degrees today. This field has been plagued with high unemployment rates and low wages for years.
If you get your bachelor’s degree in social work, you might not get a job at all, or you might only make in the low end $20,000 a year – which is less than half of what most people make in the U.S. each year.
11. Dental Hygiene
Dental hygiene is another degree that will soon be rendered useless by 2022 because there simply won’t be enough jobs available for graduates of this program.
There are only so many dentists in the country, and dental hygienists don’t have many opportunities to advance their careers without opening up their own practice or going back to school to become a dentist themselves.
12. Ethnic And Civilization Studies
This degree is becoming less and less popular. In fact, it’s been steadily declining in popularity since 1985.
With the advent of the internet, there are a lot more resources for people who want to learn about ethnic and civilization studies without needing a degree.
13. Computer Science
Computer science is a degree that lots of people go into, and it’s seen as the way to get a stable job in this day and age.
The reason we’re putting it on this list is that many jobs that require computer science knowledge can be done by other professionals like software engineers.
That means over time, computers will do more and more of the work, and people with computer science degrees may not be needed.
As you may or not know, computer science relies heavily on concepts and theory especially on Maths, so, if Maths is not your strength and you are more likely to put your ideas into practical application, then a software engineering degree might be what you are looking for.
14. Intercultural and international studies
Intercultural and international studies is a degree that students can pursue to learn about the culture, history, and politics of other countries.
The degree may have been valuable when people were more limited in their knowledge of other cultures, but technology has advanced enough for people to get the same information without the degree.
15. Video And Photographic Arts
A degree in video and photographic arts is a great way to pursue a career as a filmmaker, photographer, or videographer.
However, this degree may be rendered useless by 2022 due to the constant evolution of video and photography technology.
One example of this change is the advancements made in virtual reality. In 2014 alone, there were 340 million active users of virtual reality equipment.
This type of technology will continue to grow and evolve over time.
As it does so, many jobs involving traditional photo and video equipment will go extinct because they can now be done with VR.
Thus, this degree would be rendered useless by 2022 as demand for those jobs drops off sharply.
What Can You Do To Avoid Doing A Useless College Degree?
After reading this article, it’s likely that you’ve realized the value of knowing the types of degrees that are out of demand in 2022.
The best way to avoid doing a useless degree is to do your research before pursuing higher education.
There are some great resources on this website like CollegeXpress that can help you decide on what major you should choose based on trends and demand for certain careers.
Find the perfect U.S college for you here.
With these resources at hand, you’ll be able to make an informed decision about your future career path and avoid wasting time and money with a useless degree.
Now that you know what degrees are most likely to be completely useless in 2022, it’s time to reassess your college choices.
Consider adding another major or adding more classes into your current degree. The more skills you have, the more options you have for your future.
So, what degree are you interested in?
