Conclusion

Conclusion

The responses from the college students with a demonstrated interest in the humanities—particularly when compared to the high school students—indicate that the arguments and encouragement from humanities faculty about the value of their degrees are not falling on deaf ears. Unfortunately, this research has not clearly demonstrated when or where those arguments might be best deployed to attract more students into humanities departments. Departments might want to consider focus groups with their own students to find out when and where they were moved to take up their majors and which cases moved them.

For today’s high school and college students, decisions about whether to attend college and what to study once on campus are nuanced, influenced by their passions, experiences, and the lives they want to lead. Students are taking both personal and professional goals into account as they make these decisions, balancing concerns related to the high cost of education with the hope of becoming a better and more independent citizen of the world. They are also keen to follow paths that are interesting and fulfilling in addition to finding a career that provides financial stability. While students largely maintained their academic interests from high school into college, engaging professors were consistently cited as strong influences in introducing new interests or making a previously disliked subject newly engaging. Though return on investment and the employment prospects of humanities majors dominate popular discussions of higher education, the students themselves are thinking more broadly about their futures and engaging with their education as a means of multifaceted development.