{"id":17918,"date":"2025-11-13T20:10:49","date_gmt":"2025-11-13T21:10:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=17918"},"modified":"2025-11-13T21:57:02","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T21:57:02","slug":"money-now-more-important-than-milton-or-macbeth-at-uw-schools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wifamily.news\/?p=17918","title":{"rendered":"Money\u00a0now\u00a0more important than Milton or Macbeth\u00a0at UW schools"},"content":{"rendered":"

This post originally appeared at https:\/\/www.badgerinstitute.org\/money-now-more-important-than-milton-or-macbeth-at-uw-schools\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Dramatically fewer University of Wisconsin System students are pursuing degrees in the humanities \u2014 including English,\u00a0history\u00a0and the arts \u2014 than a decade ago.<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Meanwhile, degrees in computer science, business and engineering have soared, according to\u00a0UW System data<\/a>\u00a0reviewed by the Badger Institute.<\/p>\n

Economic factors like concerns about return on investment, tougher job markets and climbing student loan debt are the principal reasons behind these trends, according to the experts we spoke to.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe number one thing is \u2026 students don\u2019t see a direct translation from a humanities degree to a lucrative or successful job,\u201d said Shannon Watkins, a research and policy fellow with the\u00a0James G. Martin Center for Academic Renewal<\/a>. \u201cI think that\u2019s particularly so now because there\u2019s a lot of awareness on return on investment with a degree.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last year, the 13 UW System schools awarded 3,548 bachelor\u2019s degrees in the humanities, down 1,436 or about 29 percent from the 4,984 awarded a decade earlier, the data showed. In our analysis, we defined \u201chumanities\u201d as degrees in visual and performing arts, communications and journalism, English, history, foreign languages, liberal arts, legal studies,\u00a0philosophy\u00a0and religious studies.<\/p>\n

Comparing 2014-15 to 2024-25, the number of UW System students earning bachelor\u2019s degrees in English was down 39.2 percent, from 673 a decade ago to 409 last year. Steep drops also came in communications and journalism \u2014 31.7 percent from 1,581 to 1,080 \u2014 and history, down 30.6 percent from 415 to 288.<\/p>\n

This trend is not unique to Wisconsin.\u00a0A data analysis<\/a>\u00a0by the American Academy of Arts & Sciences in Cambridge, Mass., found that the number of humanities degrees conferred nationwide dropped\u00a0nearly 25 percent\u00a0between 2012 and 2022. It noted a \u201cparticularly sharp\u201d 7.3-percent drop from 2021 to 2022, during the pandemic.<\/p>\n

Conversely, bachelor\u2019s degrees in STEM \u2014 science, technology,\u00a0engineering\u00a0and mathematics \u2014 and business fields are on the rise.<\/p>\n

UW System degrees awarded in computer and information sciences were up 80\u00a0percent,\u00a01,653 awarded last year compared to 918 a decade ago, according to system\u00a0data.<\/p>\n

The system awarded 14.2 percent more engineering degrees, and business, management,\u00a0marketing\u00a0and related programs increased by 11.7 percent. Health\u00a0professions\u00a0degrees increased by just 2.5 percent.<\/p>\n

STEM graduates earn more on average than non-STEM\u00a0grads\u00a0\u2014 a gap in earnings\u00a0that\u2019s\u00a0widest with entry-level roles, Watkins said. A\u00a02018 Harvard study found<\/a>\u00a0that a typical STEM\u00a0grad\u00a0starts with a salary advantage of 30 percent, though, a decade into their career, that advantage dips to 18 percent.<\/p>\n

The UW System has \u201cbeen expanding educational opportunities in high-demand fields, including engineering; nursing and other health care professions; business and finance; and data\/computer science,\u201d Mark Pitsch, director of media relations for the Universities of Wisconsin, told the Badger Institute. \u201cAt the same time, we continue to provide students with a comprehensive education that provides them the critical thinking and adaptability skills necessary for lifelong careers.\u201d<\/p>\n

Isthmus\u00a0<\/em>in Madison\u00a0<\/em>found<\/a>\u00a0that of\u00a0the 63 UW System degree programs suspended or eliminated without a replacement since 2022, a little more than half were in the humanities or social sciences.<\/p>\n

Universities\u00a0and the media often prioritize \u201cwhat is perceived as the new frontiers of knowledge\u201d in response to the latest demands in the economy,\u00a0Russ\u00a0Castronovo, director of UW-Madison\u2019s\u00a0Center for the Humanities<\/a>, told the Badger Institute. \u201cA lot of times, I think higher education plans for the short-term.\u201d<\/p>\n

When a school cuts or defunds some humanities programs, it makes it more difficult for students to complete other humanities majors because there are fewer classes,\u00a0professors\u00a0and resources available, Castronovo said.<\/p>\n

The decline diminishes something\u00a0very important, he said. \u201cWe would lose out on everything that makes us human.\u00a0We lose out on our sense of ethics, our sense of creativity, our sense of curiosity, our sense of discovery.\u00a0I think all those things\u00a0are wrapped up in the humanities.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some\u00a0worry\u00a0artificial intelligence could also threaten the humanities \u2014 or at least significantly change how\u00a0they\u2019re\u00a0taught. For example, some professors Watkins has spoken to have replaced lengthier take-home assignments with in-class essays to prevent students from using programs like ChatGPT.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Robert Townsend, director of Humanities, Arts, and Culture at the American Academy of Arts & Sciences,\u00a0<\/strong>said some universities are encouraging humanities students to flex their writing, fact-checking and information literacy muscles when crafting AI prompts \u201cthat actually deliver the results they want\u201d and verifying information retrieved by AI \u2014 skills Townsend said will be valuable in tomorrow\u2019s workforce.<\/p>\n

Humanities courses are also competing in a smartphone marketplace of diminished attention spans. Townsend said today\u2019s students are intimidated by the sheer amount of reading in disciplines like English and history.\u202fStudents struggle to \u201creally grapple with texts\u201d and\u00a0comprehend\u00a0large quantities\u00a0of written information, he said.\u00a0Very few of them regularly read for pleasure<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese teenagers will say \u2018I\u2019m\u00a0very comfortable\u00a0with science because\u00a0there\u2019s\u00a0one fixed problem. \u2026 I just\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0have the attention span to read anything longer than a page or two,\u2019\u201d Townsend told the Badger Institute.<\/p>\n

Some students, especially those with conservative values, are put off by the political biases they perceive in some humanities courses and departments, Watkins said.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack when I was an undergrad,\u201d she said, \u201cI was studying the fine authors of medieval Spain, and all of a sudden, I was presented with a very skewed, politically charged, feminist interpretation of what the texts mean.\u201d<\/p>\n

Castronovo thinks in a world of job-hopping and ever-changing technology, students with a foundation of storytelling, information literacy and interpersonal skills might be better equipped for the future than those who focus on skills, like specific programming languages, that are bound to become obsolete.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we\u2019re just concentrating on skills in a very narrow sense, it\u2019s hard to retool the mind,\u201d Castronovo said. \u201cBut, if we\u2019re focusing on \u2026 lifelong habits of learning and engaging with the world in a critical way, then the humanities really equip us for a world that is rapidly changing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Claire Reid is a Milwaukee-based freelance journalist and graduate of the University of Notre Dame.<\/em><\/p>\n

Any\u202fuse or reproduction of Badger Institute articles or photographs requires prior written\u202fpermission.\u202fTo request permission to post articles on a website or print copies for distribution, contact Badger Institute Marketing Director Matt Erdman at\u202f<\/em>matt@badgerinstitute.org<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Submit a comment<\/h2>\n

\t\t\t\t#wpforms-55718.wpforms-block-bf7b5aed-b40b-4726-ae2e-251a7c9530af {
\n\t\t\t\t–wpforms-button-background-color: #9e1b2f;
\n–wpforms-field-size-input-height: 43px;
\n–wpforms-field-size-input-spacing: 15px;
\n–wpforms-field-size-font-size: 16px;
\n–wpforms-field-size-line-height: 19px;
\n–wpforms-field-size-padding-h: 14px;
\n–wpforms-field-size-checkbox-size: 16px;
\n–wpforms-field-size-sublabel-spacing: 5px;
\n–wpforms-field-size-icon-size: 1;
\n–wpforms-label-size-font-size: 16px;
\n–wpforms-label-size-line-height: 19px;
\n–wpforms-label-size-sublabel-font-size: 14px;
\n–wpforms-label-size-sublabel-line-height: 17px;
\n–wpforms-button-size-font-size: 20px;
\n–wpforms-button-size-height: 48px;
\n–wpforms-button-size-padding-h: 20px;
\n–wpforms-button-size-margin-top: 15px;
\n–wpforms-container-shadow-size-box-shadow: none;
\n\t\t\t}<\/p>\n

Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.<\/p>\n
Please enable JavaScript in your browser to complete this form.<\/div>\n
\n
\n
\nName *<\/span><\/legend>\n
\n