Special Report

This Is the Most Unusually Popular College Degree in Maine

Samuel Stebbins

Published: January 20, 2022 12:00 pm

There are over 170 different fields of study tracked by the U.S. Census Bureau in which undergraduate students can earn a degree. Despite the wide range of academic subjects offered at colleges and universities, over half of the 75 million American adults with a bachelor’s degree majored in one of just 15 fields of study.

Majors such as business, nursing, teaching, accounting, and biology are each among the most popular with undergraduates — and with good reason. Degrees in these fields prepare students for careers in essential industries like health care, education, and retail, where job opportunities are available in cities and towns across the country. Here is a look at the college majors with the lowest unemployment.

Of course, just as these industries are practically ubiquitous, many others are specific to certain parts of the country. This is often a reflection of a key industry that might be far less common in other parts of the country. In many cases, this is attributable to the presence of natural resources, like oil or mineral deposits, or geographic features, like a coastline. As a result, workers with degrees in less popular or more specialized subjects are often concentrated only in certain areas.

According to data from the U.S. Census Bureau, the most concentrated degree in Maine relative to the U.S. as a whole is naval architecture and marine engineering. Adults in the state are about 11 times more likely to have a degree in the field than the typical American adult. An estimated 0.40% of adults in the state have a naval architecture and marine engineering degree compared to 0.04% of adults nationwide.

Just as demand for workers with this specific degree appears to be higher than average in the state, compensation is also higher than average. Adults with a naval architecture and marine engineering degree in Maine earn an average of $118,517 per year compared to the average income among all Americans with the degree of $79,502. It is important to note that average annual earnings include all adults with the degree, even those who are working part-time or not working.

All data in this story is from the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2019 American Community Survey Public Use Microdata Sample. College majors are ranked within each state according to their location quotient — the percentage of adults 25 and older within a state with a certain bachelor’s degree relative to the percentage of adults with the same degree nationwide. The college major or field of study with the highest location quotient is considered the most unique college degree in every state.