Here's The Nation's Easiest College Major

A college degree is just about essential to make a lot of money in a career, but what if you don't want to work all that hard to get a diploma?

Slackers wanting to earn the country's easiest college major, should major in education.

It's easy to get "A's" if you're an education major. Maybe that's why one out of 10 college graduates major in education.

Research over the years has indicated that education majors, who enter college with the lowest average SAT scores, leave with the highest grades. Some of academic evidence documenting easy A's for future teachers goes back more than 50 years!

The latest damning report on the ease of majoring in education comes from research at the University of Missouri, my alma mater. The study, conducted by economist Cory Koedel shows that education majors receive "substantially higher" grades than students in every other department.

Puff GPA's

Koedel examined the grades earned by undergraduates during the 2007-2008 school year at three large state universities that include sizable education programs -- University of Missouri, Miami (OH) University and Indiana University. The researcher compared the grades earned by education majors with the grades earned by students in 12 other majors including biology, economics, English, history, philosophy, mathematics, chemistry, psychology and sociology.

Education majors enjoyed grade point averages that were .5 to .8 grade points higher than students in the other college majors. At the University of Missouri, for instance, the average education major has a 3.80 GPA versus 2.99 GPA (science, math, econ majors), 3.12 GPA (social science majors) and 3.16 GPA (humanities majors).

Consequences of Easy Grades for Education Majors

Why should we care if education majors, who must survive classes like "kiddie lit," coast through school?

For starters, easy grading can prompt students to slack off. If you can earn an "A" with little effort why exert yourself? What's more, if most students are getting A's then how can employers distinguish the future teaching stars from the academic slugs?

Koedel also suggests that the low academic standards required of education majors can extend to low expectation of teachers after they leave college.

Low grading standards in education departments may contribute to the culture of low evaluation standards in education more generally. Although the existence of such a link is merely speculative at this point, there is a striking similarity between the favorable grades awarded to prospective teachers during university training and the favorable evaluations that teachers receive in K-12 schools.

It sounds like the only ones who are flunking these days are the education professors, who are handing out all these easy A's. These profs should spend time with teachers in departments like chemistry and economics to see how real grading works.

Read More About College Majors on CBS MoneyWatch:

5 Hardest and Easiest College Majors by GPA's
Grade Inflation: Colleges With the Easiest and Hardest Grades

Engineering Degrees: How Tough Is It To Get One

8 Reasons Not to Get a Business Degree
Lynn O'Shaughnessy is author of The College Solution, an Amazon bestseller, and she also writes her own college blog at The College Solution.
Education major image by Heather Dowd. CC 2.0.

[rpallack]

Even if this statistical study were true in a much larger study than the few universities cited, whose fault has it been that this is tolerated?

Universities should not accept candidates that have low SATs, etc. But of course they will because of $$$.

In addition, should not the government require higher standards?

How about school districts that do not hire the best candidate available and truly vet their background? Instead many, like my district, hire school board member or administration relatives or friends.

Again IF this study stands up to greater scrutiny, then ALL parties have an obligation and responsibility to reform their part of the system.

In any event, I can only reflect on the high quality teachers I have had and my children have had that totally refutes this attempt to denigrate the teaching profession. Of course maybe, not being the "brightest" is the best criteria for being a great teacher.

[soldiergirl47]

"Teacher bashing easier than fractions, but with a lot less thought." You are certainly entitled to your opinion thanks in-part to a teacher that helped you developed your creative writing process. Teaching still is a noble profession. Thank you to the teachers that do the hard job everyday and work many hours without pay. 180 days, good hours, and good working conditions are myths. What is good? Working with young people and seeing them develop into independent thinkers. These are things that happen in many classrooms across America thanks to the patience of teachers. That is a teacher's place.

[eliasj3]

I would challenge this writer to observe the education major in Minnesota. I can tell you one thing, if that is what you witness where you were, you were clearly uninformed about what it takes to become an educator. The extensive hours it takes studying research, theory, and how children learn are just a FRACTION of the knowledge we must retain. Not to mention the tests that we must pass in order to enter, continue, and complete the education major. As for getting an easy 'A' by professors and teachers getting 'easy' feedback, go into a school that just finished their standardized testing, I dare you to ask for the 'kind' feedback they received...if they even have a job left. Yes, I agree that it is fun because learning should be fun, and I feel sorry for those who have to sit and listen to lectures for their entire college career and beyond. We believe in creating a hands-on community of learners which has been proven by research to be more effective in learning than teacher lecture. I could continue on correcting ALL of the inaccurate and ignorant information that this article entails, but that would take me all afternoon (because I can prove you wrong by research). Please, next time you decide to claim that something is 'too easy', do thorough research, have valid and accurate information, and step into the position you are accusing. We might make teaching look so easy that we fooled you, but don't be mistaken, it is the most under appreciated career out there.

[chunkylover54]

If you ask a cross section of teachers what 1/2 + 1/3 is, I bet less than 50% would answer correctly. I think teachers just have too high of an opinion of themselves. They were given inflated GPS's, they demand an annual 3% raise from the taxpayer, they only work 180 days per year, they get summers off, the hours are good and the work conditions are good. Sure the job can be tough at times, and dealing with parents and administrators can be frustrating, but let's not pretend like teachers are splitting the atom. They just need to be a little more in their place and not act like teaching is the nobles of professions where people are forced to work so hard for meager pay.

[TonyStarkPE]

What do I know? I'm just a Computer/Electrical Engineering student with a crappy GPA.

[AsokAsus]

Well, that DOES go a long ways towards explaining the dismal results we get from government schools: ignorant and/or stupid teachers.

[ekaneti]

Losers

[Silent_Majority]

Maybe it has to do with education majors wanting to know enough about their task to teach that they can do a good job and not dam all the children whose lives depend on a solid education. Maybe it's because of the "no child left behind" tests that we know we have to study hard in order to retain employment, maybe its the praxis tests in each area of study, (equivilant to the Law BAR exam) or maybe its because some one is upset that their college professors so illfully prepared them that they spent their entire lives pursuing a career that left them unfullfilled and sunken into a deep pool of despair; which ultimatly led to unsucessful marriages and kids who hate them, and a fumbled career. Ultimaly leading to a life of solitude and drunkeness.

Maybe that's just a rant, but sense you shared your opinion with the world I just assumed I had the right to share mine. Which is a right I learned about from some aparently overly easy Political Science prof. who simply wanted to see me graduate and become a teacher.

[LearningIsKey]

I agree with you Silent_Majority. The best teachers are those who can relate to the struggles and successes of their student. FYI: I worked equally as hard as other students to get my degree. Any college student knows that the first two years of college are basic requirements that all students must pass. The last two years are spent in ones area of concentration. Students should always endeavor to enter the field for which they have a passion. Perhaps another way to look at it is that you wouldn't be half as smart as you are today if we didn't have an abundance of educators; and maybe, just maybe, those who major in education have that thing called "passion" and they WANT to be the best teacher that they can be, so they work harder to excel in their courses.
Challenge: if you have never taught in a classroom, sign up as a substitute teacher for a couple of days.

[BritLegalese]

Did you really just compare those tests to the bar exam? I don't mean to be insulting, but I sat through the bar exam, and given what my friends who are teachers have told me about their experiences, that comparison is patently ridiculous. I don't think you have any conception of what the bar exam is like. The only experience I've heard about that seems to come close is medical/vet boards.

I also have a Masters degree in addition to my JD, and when education people tell me what they had to take/do to get their Masters degrees compared to the level of education I received to get my Masters, I honestly feel it devalues my degree that they can say they have the same level of degree.

Also, please don't take this personally, but I sat in on some education classes as part of my college employment and they were laughable. I could answer most of the questions that the teacher posed with common sense without picking up a book. My college roommate was an education major, and I was often really disturbed that her grades were (nearly) as good as mine based on her level of intelligence (I love her, but she was not very bright) and the amount of effort she put in. In fact most of the people I know that have gone into teaching/are going into teaching don't strike me as particularly bright.

And to the person that responded to you, Learningiskey, I did sub for a bit after I got out of law school while I was waiting for my bar exam results to come in. I also helped coach a high school mock trial team. I didn't find it particularly challenging. Sure, I imagine dealing with things like abuse or family problems can be difficult, I'll freely admit that. I don't think anyone said teaching was easy, I think what they said is that becoming a teacher was easy - and from what I have seen, it is.

[O7Knight7O]

Wouldn't it make sense that education majors get good grades? The entire major is about how to make students get good grades; if they pay attention at all, they would learn how to do great in school themselves. It also makes sense that they would have the best teachers, as they are teachers which specialize in teaching.

[bonadventure100]

In university I found that many of the professors were horrible teachers. Just because you can earn a phd in a subject should not mean that you are automatically qualified to teach it.

I say all of this to point out that it is very possible that education majors are the only people who are taught by phd's who are able to teach so they get better grades.

[countrysong28]

I agree 100%. I am an Ed. Major and I have to work my tail off. I had great grades in grade school. The classes outside of my major are mostly taught by people who did not have a clue about teacing. My Ed classes are taught by former teachers and people who have a clue about teaching! I believe that it may look like education is that easiest major, but in all reality it is because it is a great program being taken by people who want to do well.