There’s No Such Thing as an “Easy” College Degree

Earning a college degree is a lot of work. Despite the promises of online diploma mills, there simply is no shortcut to a college degree. Whether pursuing an online degree or a traditional on-campus degree, getting a real college education takes a significant investment of time and effort. Anyone who tells you it will be easy is either ignorant or lying.

But Some Degrees are Easier Than Others

That said, not all college degrees take the same amount of time and effort. Maybe you’re like many people and intimidated by the perceived difficulty of earning a college degree, unsure that you’re up the to the task. But since, all things being equal, it’s far better for your job prospects and long-term earning potential to have a college degree than not to have one, rather than avoiding college altogether, why not simply choose the easiest college degree major you can find? Who knows? It may turn out to be a lot less difficult than you think. Maybe you aren’t intimidated by college, but just not interested in school. You want to earn a college degree and the benefits that go along with it with as little effort as possible. There’s nothing wrong with that. Less work and less time spent studying means less stress and more time to do the things you really want to do.

It Mainly Depends On You

Of course, determining which degree will be the easiest for you depends alot on your own personal abilities and the particular school you choose to attend. Some people are naturally good (horrible) at math, others are good (or horrible ) at reading. Such natural strengths and weaknesses will help determine which majors are more or less difficult for a particular person. Some schools are far more rigorous and demanding than others. This too will influence the difficulty of a degree.

Determining Which Degrees are Hardest and Easiest in General

Still, with these caveats in mind, a recent study on the average GPAs and attrition rates associated with different college majors tells us something about which degree majors are easiest and most difficult in general. The study, by an economics professor at Wake Forest University, looks at the average grade distribution for 20 different college degree majors over a ten year span (1997-2007) at an unnamed “elite” liberal arts college. It makes sense that the higher the average grades assigned in a degree major the easier that college degree probably is (in general). The reverse is likely true as well: the lower the average grades assigned, the harder the degree major. Based on that reasoning we came up with the following list of the top 10 easiest and hardest college degree majors. In general, math and science based degrees are more difficult than liberal arts degrees, with some exceptions (computer science ranks as one of the easiest, while philosophy and political science are among the hardest).

The 10 easiest college degree majors based on GPA

1. Education
2. Language
3. English
4. Music
5. Religion
6. Sociology and Anthropology
7. Art
8. History
9. Computer Science
10. Philosophy and Religious Studies

The 10 hardest college degree majors based on GPA

1. Chemistry
2. Math
3. Economics
4. Psychology
5. Biology
6. Geology
7. Philosophy
8. Geography
9. Physics
10. Political Science