12 Easiest College Majors That Pay Well

Many people believe that education can be split on difficult and easy majors. Some people are doing great at literature, psychology, and social sciences and have difficulties paving paths through chemistry, mathematics, and physics. On the other hand, STEM majors enjoy performing scientific subjects while hating to read and analyze books, personalities, and different languages. So, where is the common ground? In this article, we’ve listed 12 easiest college majors that pay well. It’s a win-win situation, students don’t have to overly strain themselves, while they can drive great yearly revenue employed at some good company or on their own.

Finding an easy major depends on a lot of factors. Also, it’s important to note that just because some major is easy to complete and offers a lot of respectable-paying jobs, nothing but yourself, your resume and skills guarantee that you’ll get a good job. The marketplace is competitive in all fields and only the best persist. With that in mind, here are the 12 easiest college majors that pay well.

1. English Major

English Major is just much more than literature major. You find yourself immersed in novels, poetry, and prose with ease, you enjoy reading and exploring the boundaries of human creation. Additionally, you have a lot of friends who ask for help from English and you often find yourself at spelling competitions and book reading clubs. If so, this major will be perfect for you. English Major not only perfects your knowledge and practice from the English language, but it also teaches you how to analyze literature, and is all about reading all the greatest books ever written.

Benefits of English Major

You get to read a lot of great books willingly because it’s part of your education.
There are no many research papers to write or polish so they can continue focus on reading, analyzing and creating.
There is a wide specter of career opportunities for graduates. Additionally, the careers continue to expand and develop.
It promotes earning a lot of great working habits like productivity and decision making.
It promotes having structured opinion about the literature, encourages debates and detail-oriented discussions and expands views on life.

Drawbacks of English Major

Despite a wide specter of career options in English Major, the more career options there are the smaller focus on the major in itself. Some job position require additional specialization at project management or marketing.
It requires a lot of reading and writing which may appear unattractive to those who aren’t too fond of these activities. This is a both pro and con. While some enjoy reading for hours on, some find reading exhausting and draining.
It requires a lot of time commitment and may take a lot of your time for free activities, as pretty much your hobbies turn into a work.

English Major Positions With Good Salary

English Major is at times considered fairly difficult and not worth the hassle and attention they deserve. Today, many believe that the jobs English Major implies can even be done without the degree. However, they still can’t be done with as much devotion and commitment as an English Major graduate can provide. With that in mind, here are the best-paying English Major career opportunities.

Technical Writer ($58K-$85K)
Content Writer ($48K-$66K)
Office Manager ($48K-$78K)
Copywriter ($52K-$91K)
Executive Assistant ($55K-$68K)

Other job positions include librarian, grant writing, even a lawyer (with certain certifications.) English major can make a lot of money, it just requires students to strategically plan their resources and how they’ll use their learning assets.

2. Criminal Justice Major

Have you ever felt like you have a sense of right and good? Do you want to help others and teach them how to be more respectful of the law? Do you want to help deliver truth and justice? Criminal Justice major can help you achieve all of that and help you become righteous just as the friendly neighborhood Spiderman.

Benefits of Criminal Justice Major

It offers hands-on education and instructions on how to help others in trouble.
There are a lot of good-paying job opportunities, with this position constantly being high in demand.
It doesn’t involve studying various papers or reading too much. Students get hands-on experience and a lot of practical work which establishes them to follow the career path they studied for.
The best part is that it allows you to constantly make progress at work and easily earn promotions and recognition. You may start up as a regular police officer but skyrocket towards a senior detective position or even a chief.

Also Read: Do you Need a College Degree to be a Police Officer?

Drawbacks of Criminal Justice Major

It is a stressful job that can put a lasting toll on your mental health, so it involves taking a good care of yourself and always watching over your surroundings.

Criminal Justice Major Positions With Good Salary

Criminal Justice can teach you how to deal with the criminals but also how to work in a wide selection of careers. Below, we’ve highlighted the best criminal justice careers with a respectable salary.

Police Detective ($62K-$65K)
Private Detective or Investigator ($53K-$57K)
Security Manager($67K-$94K)
Paralegal ($48K-$76K)
Probation Officer ($43K-45K)

There are also a lot of criminal justice jobs connected to science and technology such as forensic investigator and cybersecurity analyst.

3. Psychology Major

Psychology is a broad term and students choose to study it for a different number of reasons. They want to understand people and what happens in their heads. Additionally, they have a set of compassionate traits that urge them to make other people feel better. The suitability of psychology on your career path depends, as it’s a easy, yet at times complex major depending on what you want to do. Just like sociology, psychology helps people understand human behaviors, their spread and development. However, it uses a vastly different approach than the aforementioned field.

Benefits of Psychology Major

There are a lot of ways for one to specialize in the major. There are plethora of specializations. Graduating psychology is usually not enough in itself and students need to embark on easy and swift specializations to find the driving force of their career.
It focuses on people and is great for people who want to understand people and focus on the high social setting.
There are a plethora of skills psychology major students learn throughout their education.
The rewarding feeling of helping others. Do you want to make someone feel good? Psychology is the way because it leaves such a good aftertaste when the person who had a problem feels more productive and like they are overcoming their issues.

Drawbacks of Psychology Major

This may not be the right path for you to take if you’re not a fan of writing, reading, analyzing and making statistical calculations. Psychology uses data to recognize behavior that may be valid or not. It also indicates long and exhausting research.
It requires higher forms of education like Masters and Ph.D. to be a certified psychologist or psychotherapist.
If you will work as a therapist, you may find yourself drained after dealing with difficult clients. Also, while you can create a flexible schedule for yourself, being over-productive can exhaust you if you have poor time-management skills.

Psychology Major Positions With Good Salary

Similarly to English Major, the Psychology educational path also has a plethora of open careers for the right candidates. You can also work in a plethora of fields like healthcare, education, and marketing. All in all, it’s a great educational path towards a well-paid job.

Human Resources Director ($87K-$155K)
Social Worker ($46K-$70K)
Human Resources Manager ($67K-$112K)
Mental Health Counselor ($42K-$52K)
Operations Manager ($65K-$98K)

Psychology major is broader than the jobs we highlighted, also add career paths like case manager, child care worker, career counselor and advertising agent suitable. Why are such diverse positions on the list? Because they involve understanding of human psychology, especially advertising agent position. Those who embark on this journey will have to understand the cognitive activity behind their market and what they want to buy.

4. Anthropology Major

Anthropology explores the processes that led to the development of humankind. It uses statistical data to predict what anthropology projections will be for the future. In a way, it’s similar to the history major because civilizations develop and this science follows that. It also explores fields like archeology and uses objects found throughout the history to explain human activities of that time.

Benefits of Anthropology Major

There are a lot of business opportunities for the job. Graduates of this major can also work in education, research, public relations, and history. There are a lot of open job opportunities.
Anthropology graduates get the opportunity to travel a lot so they can have hands-on experience and involvement with different cultures and traditions.
It develops great communication skills. You will participate in various teams with people who work on the same cause. You will debate and discuss possible outcomes of a certain events and seek to answer the questions others couldn’t predict before.

Drawbacks of Anthropology Major

Traveling can be socially and mentally exhausting because it requires constant commitment and being away for extensive amounts of time.
Sometimes there is a lot of physically-exhausting tasks to complete daily.
Anthropology major students need to get involved in a lot of research. They will often find themselves researching and reviewing papers, and get engaged in writing essays that can be long and detail-oriented.

Anthropology Major Positions With Good Salary

Anthropology involves both on-site and remote work. However, there are other job positions for anthropology graduates at disposal. They can work as researchers or teachers, be government-certified employees, work in agencies, companies and non-profit organizations.

Anthropologist ($61K-$62K)
Program Director ($57K-$107K)
Archivist ($50K-$71K)
Social Worker ($46K-$70K)
Human Resources Manager ($67K-$112K)

There are also some hybrid positions such as foreign language teacher, foreign service officer, diversity officer, attorney and other positions which require high-in-demand communication skills and constant self-improvement.

5. Philosophy Major

Philosophy is a thrilling and exciting major. It lets candidates explore and possibly answer the questions as long as time. Philosophy is often considered one of the oldest disciplines and mother of science and mathematics. If you’ve always been bothered by the questions like what is real, what are the rising meanings of human existence and what is the purpose of living on Earth, then philosophy may be the right major for you.

Benefits of Philosophy Major

It helps train your brain to answer some of the most complex questions asked in human existence. If not, graduates at this major will have great cognitive functions and often engage in lasting and challenging debates.
It gives attention to details which is a highly-valued skill in the workforce. Employers will be looking for candidates which can spot flaws in perfection and seek after it further.
Philosophy graduates are trained to answer questions and find ripples in various concept. That’s why they’ll constantly want to progress and develop themselves.
They’ll be able to apply logical explanation to nearly any problem.

Drawbacks of Philosophy Major

There are no particular job ads and posts which are explicitly looking for a philosopher who will spread wisdom all day long. Still, they are looking for people with highly-developed cognitive function, intelligence, research skills and attention to detail.

Philosophy Major Positions With Good Salary

While philosophers aren’t exactly sought after, there is a plethora of jobs which screams for skills that philosophy major graduates have. They are especially wanted in the medical field as well as technology. Many companies are looking for applied mathematicians who can solve complex statistical problems, answer some underlying issue and apply logical thinking to solve any problem. With the development of big data and artificial intelligence, philosophy major offers a lot of assets used in these disciplines.

Journalist ($40K-$72K)
Medical and Health Service Manager ($67K-102K)
Chaplain ($50K-$70K)
Solicitor ($57K-$179K)
Policy Officer ($67K-$122K)

6. Creative Writing Major

Knowing your way with words is more than just a talent. You need to know where your audience ticks and how you can use that to create more inspiring content. Creative writing is sought after because candidates can expand their creativity and learn skills they never hoped existed. Bookworms and writing geeks can get to do their favorite things, first during education and then for money. They enjoy writing essays, poetry and breezing through different written pieces. If you feel like you’re so creative you don’t know what to do with your creativity, then this major is the right for you.

Benefits of Creative Writing Major

There will be a lot of homework that will focus on writing, writing and more writing.
You can hone communication and writing skills. These come in handy in nearly all careers.
You can collaborate in multidisciplinary projects and show the limits where your creativity can go. That allows writers to learn things like marketing, management, psychology and other things.
There is a lot of space for learning and improvement.
Creative writing major allows for a lot of flexibility. Candidates can work from wherever they want and whenever they want.

Drawbacks of Creative Writing Major

Writers can experience writer’s block and find a blockage in their inspiration flows which can affect productivity and meeting deadlines.
If you’re sensitive, responding to critics could be extremely challenging for you.
Writing also requires a lot of researching. Sometimes you’ll be pushed into writing something, but you won’t have the best idea of how certain mindsets work. May require knowledge from psychology and other functions.

Creative Writing Major Positions With Good Salary

Creative writing teaches various skills which are essential for good career options. You will unlikely make a lot of money writing poetry and short stories. Additionally, ghostwriting isn’t always valued and paid the best. Nevertheless, there are a couple of job positions with a great salary which may interest you and can be the best reward for your outstanding writing and communication talents.

Marketing Director ($87K-$143K)
Copywriter ($52K-$91K)
Paralegal ($48K-$76K)
Editor ($52K-$69K)
Communications Manager ($64K-$107K)

Since creative writing serves to promote our creativity, graduates from this major may find more joy in experimenting with hybrid career options. Learn an additional skill or two and emerge into the world of creative writing for companies and organizations that need a scalable content writer.

7. Communication Major

Have you ever thought about the impact communication and media have on our world? People have different opinions and perspectives about the major actions in the world, and more often than not, they’re not afraid to present them to the world. If you think your communication skills can move people and events, perhaps, the communications major is the right place to start at. You’ll immerse yourself into the practices of different cultures, genders, sexual orientations, the politics behind that and much more. Your communication skills can have a lot of advantages in the world, and there are plenty of schools that will help you polish those skills and even improve them.

Benefits of Communications Major

If you like reading and learning, there is a lot of theory, so students get to have an easier comprehension of terms.
It’s a great learning curve. There will always be something in store for communications, so candidates can always embrace new knowledge and experience.
Graduates who find job in the communication field, get to interact with a lot of people, learning new things every day and getting to work with new people at all times.

Drawbacks of Communities Major

There are a lot of people studying the communities major. That said, the workforce is often competitive and requires candidates to show their best skills to catch a good-paying job.

Communications Major Positions With Good Salary

Below we listed some career options that require this major. We’ve sourced the salary information from PayScale and Salary. Keep in mind that this is a median annual salary.

Marketing Director ($87K-$143K)
Marketing Manager ($65-$105K)
Public Relations Specialist ( $49K-$104K)
Reporter ( $48K-53K)
Account Manager($53K-$74K)

8. History Major

History is often called the major of life and is often considered easy because it consists of various chronological facts that reveal how humanity survived all these centuries. Students of this major have to interpret the meaning behind various historical events and public figures that molded their time. Students also learn how to analyze those events, which is of great value to a great variety of career positions than just a history teacher.

Benefits of History Major

If you love to read and write, this major widely focuses on that. The good part is there is no complex technical writing and confusing report.
It’s great for developing essential critical thinking and researching skills.

Drawbacks of History Major

Many careers require you to get a History Major Masters or even a Doctorate.
It is time-consuming as students spend a lot of time translating and making sense out of confusing data.

History Major Positions With Good Salary

There are a lot of job positions you can make out with History Major. Below, we’ve listed some of them, along with their salaries.

Director of Operations ($74K-$176K)
Associate Attorney ($74K-$96K)
Research Analyst ($59K-$71K)
High School Teacher ($59K-$61K)
Museum Technician ($45K-$56K)

9. Religious Studies Major

Religious studies aren’t for everyone, but those who have always been interested in theological research and want to land a great job without studying too much of math and chemistry can find various benefits at this job position. If you’re interested in finding answers to questions that haven’t yet been found, this major is the right for you.

Benefits of Religious Studies Major

Students of religious studies often partake in intense debates and discussions, which are mentally challenging and often thrilling. They get to listen to different opinions and views and then analyze them in groups.
Students develop argumentation skills but also remain of friendly manner because these discussions don’t necessarily require them to be right or wrong. Argumentation is an important skill employers and companies demand their candidates to have.
You get to study different cultures, ethnicities, and religions and understand how they all can affect your life.
Students and graduates of religious studies can also have a lot of travelling opportunities which may approach them to different cultures as well as their own.

Drawbacks of Religious Studies Major

There is no clear goal for this major.
Graduates of religious studies often have difficulties deciding on their career path because the curriculum is usually rigorous and strict and doesn’t cover other fields like business, finances or psychology.

Religious Studies Major Positions With Good Salary

We mentioned above how it can be difficult to find the right job position with the religious studies major because there are no end goals set by the educational institute and the major requires constant seeking for the answers of mysterious questions. Students will need to get additional expertise from other fields to be fit to positions that don’t only revolve around religion. Nevertheless, we found some positions that pay well.

Clergy ($53K-97K)
Associate Pastor ($48K-$70K)
Senior Pastor ($60K-97K)
Executive Director(78K-$180K)

10. Education Major

Education Major is a broad educational path and it allows the right candidates to utilize their learned skills to teach and make this world a better place. Teachers are with us throughout entire education and can impact how our education is impacted and how we grow as individuals. They selflessly share facts and encourage us to participate in various activities and projects. Becoming a teacher can be both easy and hard, depending on what exactly you want to do, but it’s one of the best-paying opportunities.

Benefits of Education Major

It focuses on the educational theory which isn’t too difficult to work and helps learn how to organize coursework as a teacher.
It’s a hands-on kind of education, with an opportunity to constantly learn more and grow. The best part is because teachers get to connect with one another, share their experiences and learn from one another.
It doesn’t require too high SAT scores.
If you will work at an educational institution like school, you’ll spend the entire summer vacation as you wish, unlike some other job positions that have vacations lasting between two and six weeks.

Drawbacks of Education Major

Once you graduate it’s a full-time commitment kind of job. Sometimes, candidates will have to work at both school or a company and at home to prepare material that they will use. Some employers don’t appreciate that and won’t pay over-hours.
It demands candidates to continue with their professional development even after the graduation.

Education Major Positions With Good Salary

Education major opens the door to various job opportunities for people. They just need to learn how to seize the opportunity. It also depends on which path you’ll take, whether elementary, secondary or post-secondary education. Education career path outcomes also depend on the employer. Many think that teaching is overrated with diverse courses online. Educators need to convince them the opposite. Teaching can often be extremely difficult so make sure to find the job position that works the best for you. Higher positions often require a Masters’s or Ph.D. degree.

Elementary School Principal ($78K-$107K)
Training and Development Specialist ($60K-$90K)
High School Teacher ($59K-$61K)
Middle School Teacher ($57K-$60K)
Special Education Teacher ($47K-$56K)

Keep in mind that the teaching at different educational institutions differs. Some teachers teach at kindergarten and nursery schools, where the emphasis is more about teaching children how to develop good habits and grow into good adults. High school is more demanding and is about providing accurate and worthy education material while they’re going through sensitive phase in their lives. Some other job positions with a respectable salary include School psychologist, education consultant, family counselor, career counselor and others.

11. Health Major

Health Major is often associated with complex learning subjects and positions like doctors, but that’s more difficult, tasking and stressful. The job surgeons and high-end health experts to is crucial for our well-being and health. However, they are often assisted by well-educated health workers which don’t require medical school. Various health job positions don’t require the in-depth knowledge and understanding of anatomy that medical students constantly struggle with. Below, we’ll highlight different health job positions. You’ll learn how to instruct people on proper hygiene, when to use sanitizer and when soap. You can work in Health Science or Health Administration and you’ll be able to help others improve their health and lifestyle.

Benefits of Health Major

Candidates in this major have the freedom to choose what they want to do and in which field they want to specialize in.
Healthcare is constantly growing and teaming up with other fields for better results. Thanks to involvement with technology healthcare has rose a lot, and is projected to continue doing so in the future.
Similarly to psychology, the rewarding feeling success will motivate you to want to help other people who are in distress. Additionally, you get to give first-hand experience to your friends and how to protect themselves from a certain disease or condition. Your friends will always look up to you when they suffer from some ailment and the soothing you’ll provide them with will thrill you.

Drawbacks of Health Major

There might be way too high expectations for the Health Administration major. It also requires a lot of work to succeed in job opportunities.
It’s worth mentioning that similarly to Criminal Justice, Health Major is also associated to a lot of stress. Even if you don’t perform difficult activities on patients, seeing them in certain states may still put a strain on you, which is why the psyche of steel is essential.
It also demands a lot of technical expertise, reading of statistical data and research papers.

Health Major Positions With Good Salary

Health Major offers a great variety of sub-fields, and one of them may be ideal for you. Below, we’ve displayed some of the best-paying health careers worth checking out. They also come with challenging salaries.

Medical or Health Services Manager ($98K-$115K)
Physician Assistant ($95K-$106K)
Occupational Therapist ($66K-$88K)
Healthcare Consultant ($66K-$92K)
Physical Therapist ($72K-$87K)

Health major graduates can specialize in a plethora of different fields. They can even involve in health informatics and use computational analysis to derive more accurate conclusions. Additionally, they can provide hands-on experience and first-hand learning experience if they concentrate on health education. Lastly they can focus on helping people overcome addictions like alcohol or some heavy drugs and become a counselor.

12. Sociology Major

Sociology allows students to learn about different human behavior patterns derived through massive data. Sociology doesn’t only deal with current social behavior patterns but also takes students to a trip back to the past to show how societies acted throughout history and what has influenced the change in their behavior. Finally, students will be taught on how to collect data to study different behaviors.

Benefits of Sociology Major

For those interested in research, and academic papers, sociology is a great degree program because students often use statistical data derived through papers.
Sociology connects students to a great variety of modern disciplines and allows them to study social connections.
The marketplace from this field is growing. Experts and different organizations combine majors like sociology with tech to get more accurate statistical data and learn more behavioral traits in individuals.

Drawbacks of Sociology Major

Depending on a location where you want to look for a job, the market can be oversaturated, so many employers will require additional salaries or post-graduate degree.
Books often contain a lot of dry material which can be hard to remember.

Sociology Major Positions With Good Salary

If you feel like sociology interests you, here are some good job positions with a great salary if you work hard enough.

Human Resources Manager ($67K-$112K)
Executive Assistant ($55K-$68K)
Policy Analyst ($58K-$84K)
Market Research Analyst ($54K-$89K)
Management Consultant ($87K-$89K)

There are a lot more jobs, available at different geographies for social experts. They can work as police officers, behavioral health specialists, case managers and even counselor. Keep in mind that these positions will usually require a specialization like criminal justice or behavioral psychology.

How to know if a college major is easy?

What you classify as an easy college major is up to you. It’s a subjective term mainly determined by your high school performance, dedication, and GPA. Depending on your devotion, hobbies, and interests, you may find some college majors easier than others.

That said, you’ll be the best person to judge an easy college major for yourself. Of course, just because you’re good at something, it doesn’t mean that graduating that major is a must, or necessarily easy. That’s why you need to think about what feels easy, yet interesting about a particular major. That said, it’s a commonplace that a student will choose a college major that they were excelling at during their secondary education. Moreover, students will find the easiest degrees among the subjects they had the best GPA at.

Other factors that determine whether college major is easy

Several other factors will determine how some work feels. If you feel some certain subject makes you more creative and innovative if you can’t evaluate it objectively and it’s something you truly love to do. Additionally, if you find yourself spending less time on completing tasks, exercises, tests and homework assignments that means that major may be easier for you. If you enjoy doing group projects at a particular matter, perhaps it’s time to think about taking that career and educational path.

What is the easiest college major for you?