Your son comes home for Thanksgiving break with an exciting announcement. “I’ve finally picked a major,” he declares proudly. “Fermentation Sciences!”
He’s going to be a craft brewer, he’s decided. And you are… not all that bubbly. As the one who writes the checks, it’s your job to ask: Is this really worth his $20,000 annual tuition bill?
Non-traditional and alternative college majors are becoming more common, as universities try to prepare students for a rapidly changing economy. To parents, these degree programs may sound strange, silly, even frivolous: Popular Culture? Decision Sciences? EcoGastronomy? The truth is, one of these degrees may be perfect for your child and could lead to a successful career.
What should parents do when their children decide to pursue a non-traditional course of study? Here are some tips to help guide that conversation.
Ask Your Child for Specific Reasons Why They’re Interested in a Non-Traditional College Major.
Your first reaction, as a tuition-paying parent, may be to scoff. Instead, listen. Give your child the chance to explain how and why they made the decision to pursue an alternative major. For instance, if your daughter was famous for the outrageously inventive costumes she made for the high school productions, then a major in Costume Technology may be the perfect fit. If on the other hand, she just fell in love with Gal Gadot’s look in “Wonder Woman” and decided she wants to work in Hollywood, this may be more of a passing fancy than a major she should commit to.
Do Your Own Research on New College Majors.
Biometric Systems? Electronic Business Marketing? New Media Studies? To a parent, these may not be as familiar as good old Engineering, Biology or History. But they do represent the future.
If your child opts for a non-traditional degree program, do some research before you challenge it. Biometric Systems, for instance, focuses on how to develop hardware and software that can identify humans through fingerprints, retinal scans, and facial recognition. This industry is expected to grow by 48 percent by 2018, Forbes reports. Other high-growth and/or high-paying new college majors, according to Forbes, include:
• Human Centered Design and Engineering
• Robotics Engineering
• Unmanned Aircraft Systems Operations
• Data Science
• Organic Agriculture Systems
Talk About Your Child’s Career Prospects with a Non-Traditional Major.
Here’s where your parental wisdom comes in handy (finally!): You can gently remind your college student that today’s trends may not continue tomorrow. Your aspiring Fermentation Sciences major sees the boom in craft breweries and assumes jobs will be easy to find in a few years. The truth, analysts say, is that craft beer may have hit its peak. The industry overall saw 6 percent growth in 2016, a big drop from 13 percent the year before.
The goal, of course, is not to crush your child’s dream, but rather to help explore the best options. If your son’s goal is to eventually open a brewery, would he consider getting a business degree first and studying beer-making later? If he can’t find a job in his chosen specialty, could his degree translate into another field? Take a look at Payscale’s comprehensive list of the salary potential of various degrees to get a more accurate sense of the return on investment for a particular degree.
Let Your Child Make Their Own Way.
Your daughter tells you her new major is Critical Social Thought — “designed for students who want to interrogate cultural and social phenomena outside the confines of traditional disciplinary boundaries with the goal of analyzing relations of power embedded in knowledge production and social life.” You may roll your eyes. You may wish that she would choose something a little more… concrete. But in the end, it’s your daughter’s life, and her college major alone won’t determine her destiny. She will. So let her pursue what fascinates her and offer your support, every step of the way.
Another way to support your child’s dreams – while protecting your investment – is to purchase tuition insurance. Allianz Tuition Insurance can reimburse you directly for tuition and fees in the event your covered student must withdraw for a covered reason before the end of the semester. Take a look at the available plans to figure out which one is right for your student.