College students and universities ditching humanities majors in order to prepare for 'in-demand careers'

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College students are turning to practical majors

Fox News correspondent Mike Emanuel has the latest on why college students are ditching humanities on 'America Reports.'

College students are choosing to forego humanities majors in favor of more practical options that allow them to prepare for in-demand careers, Fox News correspondent Mike Emanuel told "America Reports" Thursday. 

Some U.S. colleges are making changes to their curriculum by getting rid of humanities majors altogether, including Marymount University in Virginia which recently did away with its English major.

"After a persistent yearly decline in applications and enrollment in our English degree, it was recommended and approved by our Board of Trustees to remove this program from our program inventory," the school confirmed told Fox News in a statement. "This decision reflects not only our students' needs, but our responsibility to prepare them for the fulfilling, in-demand careers of the future."

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Fewer than one in 10 students graduated with a humanities degree in 2020, a 24 percent decline since 2012, according to the American Academy for Arts and Sciences. Experts signal that high college costs have led students to be more practical starting about 15 years ago when the economy was in major recession. 

"Students are carrying more of the load for the cost of an education, and that means they want to make sure they can pay off their loans," Dr. Tamara Harvey, the English chair at George Mason University told Fox News. 

Emanuel said the drop in students pursuing humanities majors began about 15 years ago during the recession, and has continued to progress to this day. 

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Dr. David Whalen, the Associate Vice President for Curriculum, Professor of English at Hillsdale College, pointed to ideology in the classroom as a reason why students might be turning away from certain areas of study.  

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"Students who find that their study of literature inevitably turns into either an exploration of the arcane theoretical interests of the professor or the high school teacher, or more commonly now, an indulgence in a kind of ideological or politicized study of grievance," he told Fox News.