History Main / ADegreeInUseless

* ''WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}}'': "Meanwhile" has a mascot in a GoofySuit make a full-sized balloon animal version of Leela in a matter of seconds. When Fry compliments him, he says "Five years of art school!", and laughs, before subsiding into quiet sobbing.

* Gustav of ''WebAnimation/SCPAnimatedTalesFromTheFoundation'' works for an organization where you expect researches and assistants to have some form of scientific major. Gustav's major in college? ''Theatre ''.
-->'''Dr. Buck''': I'm sure your mother was...very proud?
-->'''Gustav''': She...wasn't.

The crux behind this trope, both in fiction and real life, tends to center around the choice of studies in comparison to the dismal market for those studies. If a well-paid job requires a degree, and such as a lawyer, doctor and engineer, and there are many jobs available, the likelihood of acquiring the job is greatly improved after 4-8 years of study and tons of student debt. Of course, people can go to college/university for far more reasons than getting a bigger paycheck; personal fulfillment, joy of learning, gaining life experience by living in a college town, working on big projects with deadlines and [[BasementDweller moving away from home]] can all be of similar benefit regardless of the degree acquired.

But some majors have little workplace potential because of being too abstract or general, creating a circular system where the best option is to turn around and teach the same subject to the next generation. As a result, people getting degrees in areas with poor job prospects (fine arts, music, philosophy, etc) may get a Bachelors and then graduate degrees, and then become a low-paid, precarious sessional college instructor and train more people for the same dismal job prospects.

* ''WesternAnimation/TheVentureBrothers''

Wow, you took ''that'' degree? Ha! [[FutureLoser What a loser!]] First, all your peers will laugh at you for partying (or having your head in the clouds) instead of studying for a ''real'', useful degree. Then, you'll find that it's impossible to find work in your field, and end up working at BurgerFool for the rest of your life -- [[EvenBeggarsWontChooseIt assuming even the Burger Fool will hire you!]] Of course, if you are lucky you can become a MadScientist's experiment or something and at least make a ''name'' for yourself there. The only thing worse for an Education Mama than her children not doing well in school is majoring in one of these.

Wow, you took ''that'' degree? Ha! [[FutureLoser What a loser!]] First, all your peers will laugh at you for partying (or having your head in the clouds) instead of studying for a ''real'', useful degree. Then, you'll find that it's impossible to find work in your field, and end up working at BurgerFool for the rest of your life -- [[EvenBeggarsWontChooseIt assuming even the Burger Fool will hire you!]] Of course, if you are lucky you can become a MadScientist's experiment or something and at least make a ''name'' for yourself there.

->''"You are a genius if you can finish a five-year course in ancient Babylonian astrology in only two years.\\
You are an idiot if you think anyone is going to hire a guy with a major in ancient Babylonian astrology."''

** In in his song [[Music/{{Alpocalypse}} "Skipper Dan"]], about a theater prodigy working a dead-end job on a Ride/{{Disneyland}} Jungle Cruise ride:

* An ordinary degree may only qualify you to ask “Would you like fries with that?”, but a degree in philosophy makes you able to ask some of the deep questions of life, such as, “ ''Why '' would you like fries with that?”

* Getting a degree in philosophy makes you able to ask the deep questions of life, such as, “ ''Why '' would you like fries with that?”

Wow, you took ''that'' degree? Ha! [[FutureLoser What a loser!]] First, all your peers will laugh at you for partying instead of studying for a ''real'' degree. Then, you'll find that it's impossible to find work in your field, and end up working at BurgerFool for the rest of your life -- [[EvenBeggarsWontChooseIt assuming even the Burger Fool will hire you!]] Of course, if you are lucky you can become a MadScientist's experiment or something and at least make a ''name'' for yourself there.

In short, this is a college degree in a subject that is worth less (at least, financially speaking) than the paper it is printed on, and ''much'' less than the cash you paid for it. A common use is to have the guy describe his achievements: "Yeah, graduated top three of my class, BA in Arts, my professors predicting me an easy future and all that. Would you like fries with that?".

The crux behind this trope, both in fiction and real life, tends to center around the choice of studies in comparison to the job market applicable to those studies. If a job requires a degree, such as a lawyer, doctor and engineer, the likelihood of acquiring the job is infinitely improved after 4-8 years of study and tons of student debt. Of course, people can go to college/university for far more reasons than getting a bigger paycheck; personal fulfillment, life experience, working on projects with deadlines and [[BasementDweller moving away from home]] can all be of similar benefit regardless of the degree acquired. But often it's said that some majors have little workplace potential because of being too abstract or general, creating a circular system where the best option is to turn around and teach the same subject to the next generation. See [[Analysis/ADegreeInUseless Analysis]] tab for more.

All that said, advanced degrees often accumulate undergrad coursework that will help them get into a good graduate program but not help them in the job market at that point in time. Most Liberal Arts degrees such as English, Literature, Sociology and Philosophy can be parlayed into graduate programs as diverse as Journalism, Law and Political Science. Universities aim to create well-rounded students, so they require at least two years of general education before they focus on their majors. Students majoring in the arts have exposure to the hard sciences and vice versa. And even still, some creative application of the knowledge gained can be a great benefit when [[CripplingOverspecialization everyone else is locked into the same point of view]].

** In in his song "Skipper Dan", about a theater prodigy working on a Disneyland Jungle Cruise ride:

* Humourously referenced in ''VideoGame/{{Paradigm}}'' where the makers of [[DesignerBaby designer babies]] boast that their children will never waste their parents' money on liberal arts degrees.

* Q: How do you get a philosophy major off your porch?
A[=:=] Pay for the pizza.

See HardOnSoftScience for when scientists invoke this on other scientists. Related to ClassicallyTrainedExtra. The WorthlessForeignDegree is when you run into trouble not because of ''what'' you studied, but ''where'' you studied. Compare NotThatKindOfDoctor, where people assume you are a physician when your doctorate was in literature. See also ExpertInUnderwaterBasketWeaving for other useless skills and talents. Contrast IMinoredInTropology, where the "useless" topic isn't as maligned so much as catches others off guard.

All that said, advanced degrees often accumulate undergrad coursework that will help them get into a good graduate program but not help them in the job market at that point in time, English and Literature degrees can lead to Journalism. Universities aim to create well-rounded students, so they require at least two years of general education before they focus on their majors. Students majoring in the arts have exposure to the hard sciences and vice versa. And even still, some creative application of the knowledge gained can be a great benefit when [[CripplingOverspecialization everyone else is locked into the same point of view]].

Of course, people go to college/university for far more reasons than getting a bigger paycheck at the end of it; in terms of personal fulfillment, a person may gain much from their liberal arts degree. From another angle, many students seeking advanced degrees often accumulate classes that will help them get into a good graduate program but not help them in the job market at that point in time. There are a lot of different majors that are subject to such ridicule, being hopelessly specific or too generic to offer you any advancement. See [[Analysis/ADegreeInUseless Analysis]] tab for more.

Another thing is, even for degrees which seem more useful at the beginning of this century (technical degrees), you frequently '''need''' other subjects as well. You like Informatics, for example? That can be paired with Linguistics (translator engines, natural language processing), Psychology (user interface design, advertisements), Biology (medical devices), Arts (colour theory, computer graphics), Humanities (digital humanities), English (technical writing), Law (patent law), Philosophy (information ethics)... and a host of others, as long as you're willing to look for examples. The point is, you'll find almost every study subject is intertwined with others the more complex it gets.

And even if some university degree ''sounds'' useless, it doesn't mean that it actually is (after all, those who actually studied it may know better), or that it will continue to be in the future (the current huge demand for technical degrees may cause humanitarian degrees to be more sought after in the future). People who have bachelor's degrees and advanced degrees [[https://www.bls.gov/careeroutlook/2018/data-on-display/education-pays.htm earn more]] over their lifetimes across the board compared to those who have a high school education or less, regardless of field of study.

Also bear in mind that American universities aim to create well-rounded students, so they require at least two years of general education before they focus on their majors. Students majoring in the arts have exposure to the hard sciences and vice versa.