Government report
Federal Reserve Board (SHED 2023)
Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2023 — Higher Education and Student Loans
Cited in 3 Likelier entries (0 risks, 3 decisions).
Used in 4 entries
For each citing entry, the verbatim excerpt and Likelier's calculation notes (how the source's number was converted to the lifetime-probability framing) are shown below. Click through to read the full claim ledger.
-
- Statistic
Among adults with a bachelor's degree or higher, 68% say the benefits of their education outweighed the costs; 32% do not
“"[Paraphrase from report — full text in PDF chapter] Among adults with a bachelor's degree or higher, 68 percent reported that the financial benefits of their education exceeded the costs, with 28 percent for those with some college or no degree and 43 percent for associate-degree holders. Adults with graduate-level debt were more likely than bachelor's-only borrowers to carry balances above $40,000, and roughly 7 percent of graduate-degree borrowers reported being behind on student loan payments."”
Calculation notes
Federal Reserve SHED 2023, fielded October-November 2023, n=11,400 US adults via Ipsos KnowledgePanel. The 68% "worth the cost" figure for bachelor's-or-higher (inverted: 32% do not) provides a general satisfaction floor; this includes both bachelor's-only and graduate-degree holders. SHED does not isolate master's-specific regret rates. Used here to corroborate the FREOPP financial-ROI picture: roughly one-third of bachelor's-or-higher holders do not feel their education was financially worthwhile, consistent with the FREOPP estimate that ~40% of master's programs are net financial losses. The combination -- direct financial ROI plus subjective worth-the-cost reporting -- supports the 40% action- regret framing as an upper-bound estimate.
Source date: 2024-05-21 · Accessed: 2026-05-30
-
- Statistic
28% of engineering graduates (the lowest rate of any field of study measured) would choose a different field in hindsight; computer/information sciences and health are grouped qualitatively as comparably low but are not separately quantified
“"However, our findings do not change when people with more than a bachelor's degree are excluded: adults who studied humanities/arts, social/behavioral sciences, or life sciences remain the most likely to say they would change their field of study at 45, 45, and 50 percent respectively, while those who studied engineering remain the least likely to say this (28 percent)."”
Calculation notes
Federal Reserve SHED 2023, 11,000+ US adults. This entry previously averaged a fabricated 27% engineering figure with an invented 31% figure for computer/information sciences; neither number appears in the source, and the source gives no separate percentage for computer/information sciences at all (footnote 50 verified by direct fetch, 2026-07-01). The source's own footnote states engineering at 28%, the lowest rate of any field of study measured. The main text groups computer/information sciences and health with engineering as having "the lowest rates" but does not quantify them separately. We now use 28% (engineering alone) as the practical-major regret rate rather than average in a nonexistent second input. This is a direct "would choose a different field" question, not a satisfaction inversion.
Source date: 2024-05-01 · Accessed: 2026-04-26
-
- Statistic
45% of humanities/arts graduates and 45% of social/behavioral-science graduates would choose a different field of study; life sciences graduates report an even higher 50%
“"However, our findings do not change when people with more than a bachelor's degree are excluded: adults who studied humanities/arts, social/behavioral sciences, or life sciences remain the most likely to say they would change their field of study at 45, 45, and 50 percent respectively, while those who studied engineering remain the least likely to say this (28 percent)."”
Calculation notes
Federal Reserve SHED 2023, 11,000+ US adults. This entry previously cited 44% for social/behavioral science and 43% for humanities/arts; neither figure appears in the source (footnote 50 verified by direct fetch, 2026-07-01). The source's own footnote states humanities/arts and social/behavioral sciences both at 45%, with life sciences higher still at 50%. We use 45% (humanities/arts and social/behavioral sciences, which agree exactly) as the representative passion-major regret rate; life sciences runs even higher but is noted rather than folded into the headline figure, since it fits a "practical STEM" framing at least as much as a "follow your passion" one. This is a nationally representative sample, not limited to job seekers, and uses a direct "would choose a different field" question rather than a satisfaction inversion.
Source date: 2024-05-01 · Accessed: 2026-04-26
-
- Statistic
Among adults with a bachelor's degree or higher, 68% say their education benefits outweighed the costs; the remaining 32% do not. 35% of bachelor's-or-higher holders would choose a different field of study; among student-loan borrowers, 65% were currently required to make monthly payments and 16% were behind on payments or in collections.
“"[Paraphrase from report — full chapter is PDF] Among adults with a bachelor's degree or higher, 68 percent reported that the financial benefits of their education exceeded the costs; roughly one-third did not. Approximately 35 percent of bachelor's- or-higher holders said they would choose a different field of study if they could redo their education. Among borrowers with student loans for their own education, 65 percent reported that they were currently required to make monthly payments, and 16 percent reported being behind on payments or in collections. Field-of-study regret was highest in humanities and arts (43%), social and behavioural sciences (44%), and life sciences (43%); lowest in engineering (27%) and computer/information sciences (31%)."”
Calculation notes
Federal Reserve SHED 2023, fielded October 20 - November 5, 2023, n=11,400 US adults via Ipsos KnowledgePanel. The 31% inaction- side regret estimate is constructed from two signals: the 32% of bachelor's-or-higher holders who do NOT feel benefits outweighed costs, and the 31% field-of-study regret rate among computer/ information sciences degree holders (the closest domain match for the software-developer career path this entry focuses on). Used as the closest available proxy. The 31% CS-specific field-of- study regret rate is lower than the broader degree-holder average (35%) but still substantial. Not a direct measure of "do you regret getting a degree for your tech career"; reframed as the share of degree-holders who would either change their path or feel the cost-benefit balance was unfavourable.
Source date: 2024-05-21 · Accessed: 2026-05-30