13 College Majors with Highest Unemployment Rates

Recent grads in art, education fields face tougher job market

Published on Feb. 12, 2026

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A new analysis by the Federal Reserve Bank of New York found that several art-related college majors, including fine arts and performing arts, had unemployment rates above 6% for recent graduates aged 22-27. Anthropology ranked highest at nearly 8% unemployment. The job market has been challenging for new college graduates, with the overall unemployment rate for recent grads rising from 4.8% to 5.6% over the past year.

Why it matters

The high unemployment rates for certain majors highlight the challenges facing new college graduates entering a tighter job market. Experts suggest recent grads network, leverage career services, and broaden their job searches to find roles that may utilize their skills in unexpected ways, as the most exciting applications of some degrees may not be at the "usual suspect" tech giants.

The details

The Federal Reserve Bank of New York analyzed 73 college majors using Census Bureau data from 2024 to examine unemployment rates for recent graduates aged 22-27. Several art-related majors had high unemployment, with fine arts, performing arts, and anthropology ranking among the 13 majors with rates above 6%. Experts note that while some high-paying tech roles have low underemployment, fields like anthropology and fine arts typically have less financial cushion to wait for the right job opportunity.

  • The analysis used Census Bureau data from 2024.
  • The overall unemployment rate for recent college graduates rose from 4.8% at the start of 2025 to 5.6% in December 2025.

The players

Daniel Zhao

The chief economist at Glassdoor.

Hany Farid

A professor at the University of California, Berkeley.

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What they’re saying

“You have some majors that have very restrictive job markets, like fine arts or performing arts, but then you also have other majors that have been very attractive and that offer high-paying jobs, like computer engineering or computer science.”

— Daniel Zhao, Chief Economist, Glassdoor (businessinsider.com)

“I have always contended that the most exciting applications of computer science are not at Facebook, Google, and Amazon, but at the intersection of computing and other fields.”

— Hany Farid, Professor, University of California, Berkeley (businessinsider.com)

The takeaway

The high unemployment rates for certain college majors, particularly in the arts and education fields, underscore the challenges facing new graduates entering a tighter job market. Experts advise recent grads to network, leverage career services, and broaden their job searches to find roles that may utilize their skills in unexpected ways, as the most promising opportunities may not be at the obvious tech giants.