13 College Majors In Which The Pay Goes Nowhere

When deciding on a college major, students are encouraged to think about a few things: what they love to do; what they want to do; what jobs they imagine themselves in; and what the earning and growth potential is like for those careers.

For instance, they would probably want to know ahead of time that human services majors see their annual pay increase by only about $7,500, or 22%, over the first 10 years of their careers, compared with the average American worker, whose salary grows by about $25,000, or 60%, in that time.

That's according to Payscale, the creator of the world's largest compensation database with more than 40 million salary profiles. It recently looked at the difference between starting (less than five years of experience) and mid-career (10 or more years of experience) pay by college major, and it determined the 13 majors with the smallest salary growth.

"We're not trying to discourage students from pursuing these majors - we're simply offering information so that students can make informed choices and get the most out of their degree, whatever major they choose," says Kayla Hill, a research analyst at Payscale.

Among the majors, child development has the lowest starting salary ($32,200) and mid-career pay ($36,400) while showing the least amount of growth in the first 10 years ($4,200, or 13%).

"Human support service majors tend to be paid less across the board," Hill says. "Child development workers in particular may see less growth over time because it is a field that tends to be undervalued by society. Additionally, childcare workers may not have the same opportunities for advancement as more technical jobs, where learning new skills can lead to a pay bump or promotion."

Human services majors had the second-lowest salary growth between starting and mid-career, while early childhood and elementary education had the third-smallest.

"People in support service jobs tend to find a high level of meaning from their jobs despite the lower pay," Hill says. "For many of these workers, the satisfaction and fulfillment they receive from helping others outweighs the lack of pay growth."