College students are slowly but surely moving away from the humanities and toward the STEM disciplines. And while this is in part a reflection of where jobs are going, it may also signal both a general loss of interest in reading and language arts, and a greater desire to get a college degree in a field that will pay more after graduation.

CareerBuilder analyzed college graduation data from 2010 to 2014, and reported that the shift toward science, technology, engineering and math degrees was substantial during that period.

Overall, American institutions of higher education produced 11 percent more college grads in 2014 than in 2010. But, the study found, that increase was front-end loaded, with two-thirds of the growth coming in the 2010-2011 period. The last two years of the study revealed degree growth of just 0.3 percent and 0.8 percent.

That sheer increase aside, degrees that grew the most during the four years were:

  • Science technologies/technicians: 49 percent growth

  • Natural resources and conservation: 45 percent growth

  • Parks, recreation, leisure and fitness studies: 44 percent growth

  • Multi/interdisciplinary studies: 36 percent growth

  • Mathematics and statistics: 35 percent growth

  • Public administration and social service professions: 33 percent growth

  • Computer and information sciences ad support services: 32 percent growth

  • Precision production: 30 percent growth

  • Homeland security, law enforcement, firefighting and related protective services: 27 percent growth

  • Engineering: 26 percent growth

Those that experienced the greatest declines over the period were:

  • Military technologies and applied science: 30 percent decline

  • Library science: 17 percent decline

  • Education: 9 percent decline

  • History: 8 percent decline

  • Construction trades: 6 percent decline

  • Philosophy and religious studies: 3 percent decline

  • English language and literature/letters: 2 percent decline

  • Foreign languages, literatures and linguistics: 2 percent decline

  • Architecture and related sciences: 1 percent decline

CareerBuilder culled out two major business sectors that experienced brief declines in 2013 but jump up again in 2014: health professions and general business programs.

CareerBuilders’ CEO, Matt Ferguson, pointed to two disturbing trends in the data.

“While it’s encouraging to see accelerated participation growth in STEM-related college programs, the slowdown in overall degree completions — especially those tied to developing strong communications and critical-thinking skills — is concerning,” he said. “Nearly half of employers say they currently have job vacancies but can't find skilled candidates to fill them. We need to do a better job informing students and workers about which fields are in-demand and growing, and provide them with access to affordable education and training, so the journey to a high-skill job is an achievable one regardless of their socioeconomic situation.”

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Dan Cook

Dan Cook is a journalist and communications consultant based in Portland, OR. During his journalism career he has been a reporter and editor for a variety of media companies, including American Lawyer Media, BusinessWeek, Newhouse Newspapers, Knight-Ridder, Time Inc., and Reuters. He specializes in health care and insurance related coverage for BenefitsPRO.

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