A college degree is often seen as a way to get a leg up in the labor market, which has recently been notoriously challenging for early-career workers. But as new grads begin their job searches, many say they wish they had chosen a different field of study.

Roughly one in five recent grads regret their major, according to a recent report from ZipRecruiter, which surveyed 1,500 graduates from the class of 2025, and another 1,500 students set to graduate this spring. Liberal arts majors were most likely to regret the area they chose to focus their studies, with many wishing they had pursued a scientific or quantitative field, according to the job site.

The fields with the highest share of regret among recent grads are political science, international relations, or public policy, with 46.3% of those majors expressing dissatisfaction with their choice, ZipRecruiter found. That's followed by communications, media studies or public relations majors, 39.2% of whom said they rue their decision.

To be sure, it's not only liberal arts grads who have second thoughts about their majors, with one-third of physical sciences majors — people who majored in physics, chemistry or earth sciences — expressing doubts, the analysis found. Regret may be more acute for young grads due to the stress of securing a career foothold, with research from the Federal Reserve finding that middle-aged workers are generally more positive about the value of their college degrees than younger Americans.

Many young workers are struggling to land roles in the current workforce amid a broad decline in job openings. Entry-level roles accounted for 38.6% of postings on ZipRecruiter as of March 1, down from 43.4% two years ago. These jobs are shrinking at the same time demand for those positions is increasing, the ZipRecruiter study shows.

Finding a job isn't the only obstacle early-career entrants face. As recent grads enter the workforce, they may also bump up against the unfortunate reality that the jobs in their field pay less than they anticipated. 

For those who studied public health or health administration, the pay they received upon landing a job was 43.8% lower than they expected, ZipRecruiter's survey reveals. Among agriculture, environmental science, or natural resources majors as well as English, literature, or journalism majors, compensation was 30% lower than they expected.

Nursing degrees pay off

For those worried about career prospects, studying nursing could provide a more secure pathway to employment, the study suggests.

ZipRecruiter found that nearly one-third of nursing graduates secured a job before graduation. Health care workers remain in high demand, especially as an aging U.S. population drives a need for care. The sector continues to drive employment growth: Health care jobs accounted for 43% of the total payroll gains in March.

Nursing majors also stand to benefit from higher pay. According to ZipRecruiter's report, those who studied nursing landed the highest median salary upon graduation compared to other majors, at $70,000 a year.