12 Easiest College Majors To Get Your Degree In (2024 Guide)
Looking for the easiest path to a college degree? Here are the easiest college majors for getting your bachelor’s degree.
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Choosing a college major is one of the biggest decisions you’ll make in life, and sometimes, the path of least resistance is the most appealing.
If you’re looking for majors that are perceived as more manageable or have a reputation for being easy, you’re in the right place.
In this post, we’ll explore the 12 easiest college majors that can lead you to your degree without as much stress.
Whether you’re looking to balance work and study, or simply want a smoother college experience, these majors might just be for you.
How To Know If A College Major Is Easy
In order to decide which major will be the easiest for you, you’ll want to use this criteria:
- A subject you are naturally good at and enjoy learning about.
- The major with the most students graduating after four years.
- A degree that requires minimum effort and time to excel.
- A major that most students score a high GPA.
We’ve listed these in order from “heart to head”.
For example, if your heart was making the choice, it would choose a college major that is fun and comes the most naturally to you.
If your head chooses your college major, it might choose the least work, the highest graduation rate, or GPA.
The Easiest College Majors
The term “easy” is subjective when it comes to college majors, because everyone has different interests and skills.
For example, if you excelled in STEM subjects in high school, the easiest college major for you could be something related to science or engineering.
But there are college majors that are generally thought to be less demanding than others.
For all of you skimmers out there, here is a quick guide to easy college majors and their earning potentials:
| Major | Salary Range Salary ranges vary wildly across location, experience level & specific occupation |
| Psychology | $60,000 – $215,000 |
| Criminal Justice | $48,000 – $174,000 |
| Education | $45,000 – $93,000 |
| Anthropology | $48,000 – $79,000 |
| Sociology | $36,000 – $97,000 |
| Religious Studies | $28,000 – $80,000 |
| Communications | $21,000 – $93,000 |
| History | $23,000 – $111,000 |
| Healthcare Administration | $67,000 – $104,000 |
| Social Work | $35,000 – $85,000 |
| Creative Writing | $46,000 – $114,000 |
| Human Resources | $76,000 – $224,000 |
1. Psychology
The best part about psychology is that it is a multidisciplinary major, meaning you have options. Not all psychology courses are easy, but it depends on your interests.
For example, do you want to study psychology from a scientific or liberal arts perspective?
A bachelor of science in psychology focuses more on scientific and technical skills.
In contrast, a bachelor of arts in psychology focuses more on building critical thinking, observational, and communication skills.
Generally speaking, a BA (Bachelor of Arts) in psychology is considered easier than a BS (Bachelor of Science) in the same field because it does not involve as much math and science.
Another thing to consider when taking this major is how you plan to start your career path.
Starting with an associates degree might be easier because you won’t have to take as many classes. However, your earning potential will usually be lower.
Most students who study psychology will go on to get their master’s or doctorate degrees in order to get higher paying jobs.
2. Criminal Justice Degree
Criminal justice has long been considered one of the easiest degree programs in college.
However, that will depend on the area you choose to specialize in and the school you decide to attend.
It is general knowledge that not all police work requires you to have a degree. However, having a degree is crucial if you want to advance your career.
The main reason students find criminal justice majors easy is that the reading and writing requirements are more manageable when compared to other majors.
As for technical skills, you will need to be computer literate to search the system, input or log in evidence, etc.
Other career paths within criminal justice, like forensics and cybersecurity, might require advanced computer and scientific knowledge.
Criminal justice can also be a fairly lucrative field.
For example, a state corrections officer makes an average of $53,000. But if you go into private sector cybersecurity, you could be making up to $174,000.
3. Education
Educators are a crucial part of society because they help shape future generations.
There are various branches of education you can specialize in, such as:
- High school education
- Elementary education
- Early education
- Special education
- Education administration
Compared to some majors that are heavy in technical or abstract theoretical work (like engineering or physics), the workload of an education major is pretty manageable.
However, it will require you to do some free work as a student teacher at the beginning of your career.
After student teaching, you can expect to earn an average of $45,000 – $55,000 annually. The top 10 percent of education majors make over $93,000 per year.
4. Anthropology
Anthropology is a degree that focuses on humanity and human development throughout history.
With anthropology, it is not a matter of getting the right or wrong answers. Instead, it is mainly about how well you argue or defend your conclusion based on all the evidence provided.
In addition, anthropology typically involves some travel, where students gain practical experience by interacting with people from various cultures and traditions.
You can get lucrative job opportunities in the government, private sector, education, human resources, marketing, museums, etc.
Anthropologists can earn an annual salary of $48,000 – $79,000.
5. Sociology
Sociology is the study of how social structures affect human behavior. Students learn sociology mainly through observation, reading, and collecting data.
Since the course explores things like family, inequality, gender, race and culture, crime, and environment, most students find it easy to understand.
Besides relying on research and data, students can also apply common sense to solve some societal issues.
Additionally, there is little to no technical language in the course, and students studying sociology average a GPA of 3.24 and above.
Many career opportunities derive from this degree, including market research analyst, human resources specialist, etc.
The average annual salary of a sociology major can range from $36,000-$97,000.
6. Religious Studies
Are you interested in theology?
A religious study major focuses on learning different religions while drawing from other disciplines like theology, history, anthropology, literature, language, philosophy, sociology, and political science.
The difficult thing with a religious studies major is choosing a career path, because this area of study is not designed with any clear job in mind.
Religious studies majors can go on to become a member of the clergy, work as a religious studies professor, or work for a faith-based social program.
This is definitely not the most lucrative major on the list. Salaries typically range from $28,000-$80,000 per year.
7. Communications
Communication is considered an easy major because it does not involve much technical or scientific coursework.
Students learn about communications-related topics like public speaking, research strategies, writing, advertising, and media which are relatively simple.
There are several career paths to follow as a communications major, like public relations specialists, marketing or advertising, editors, journalists, etc.
The annual salary for a communications major can range from $21,000 to $93,000 per year. However, top broadcasters can make millions of dollars per year.
8. History
History is considered an easy major because there is typically no lab or scientific work involved.
However, there is a lot of required reading for this college major. You’ll be reading and analyzing a lot of texts about how past events shape the society we live in today.
A history major should have excellent research and critical thinking skills.
As a history major, you can become an archivist, museum technician, curator, librarian, teacher, and much more.
History majors are earning an average of $23,000-$111,000 annually.
9. Healthcare Administration
When you think of the healthcare industry, your mind immediately goes to doctors and nurses.
Most people forget about what goes on behind the scenes in healthcare, which is where healthcare administration comes in.
A healthcare administration major is easy compared to other medical professions that require a lot of lab work and technical study.
However, the major does require expertise in two main subjects: business and general healthcare.
As a healthcare administration major, you can explore a career in a hospital, private clinic, or patient-care facility.
The average annual salary of a healthcare administrator is $67,000-$104,000, making it a very lucrative field.
10. Social Work
Most students will describe being a social work major as fairly easy.
You do not need to do any advanced mathematics, but you may do some courses on statistics, quantitative research, and empirical research methods.
Because these subjects are not as difficult, social work majors score higher GPAs than other majors.
Although the major is fairly easy, the actual work after graduating can be very taxing.
You’ll need empathy, cultural competency, and awareness of your own social biases and experiences to be a good social worker.
Social workers can work in clinical settings, schools, medical care, hospice, human services, the foster care system, NGOs, and much more.
The average social worker earns an annual salary of $35,000-$85,000.
11. Creative Writing
As the name suggests, creative writing involves a lot of writing.
If you enjoy writing poems, plays, songs, stories, and other creative works, the creative writing major will be easy for you.
This degree path can benefit you in various professional fields like marketing, copywriting, editing, communications management, etc.
The internet has also opened many content creation opportunities for creative writers. You can start a blog, an online magazine, self-publish your books, etc.
Of course, your average annual salary will depend on your chosen path, but you can expect to earn $46,000-$114,000.
12. Human Resources
The human resources (HR) department at a company wears many hats.
If you work in human resources, you could be:
- Recruiting, onboarding, and training new hires
- Administering employee benefits
- Handling employee compensation
- Addressing work-related disputes
- Coordinating employee career development
- Developing company policies
Or a combination of all of the above!
A human resource major is considered easy because it does not require much technical skill.
Of course, you’ll need to learn the software systems used to complete HR tasks like payroll, management, training, etc. But many students find those programs easy to learn.
Besides that, you may take courses on employment law, financial management, and strategic decision.
A career in HR is stable because every major company needs a human resource manager.
Throughout your career, you can expect to earn an annual salary of $76,000-$224,000, depending on your level of expertise.
Hopefully this list gave you some good ideas for the easiest majors you can pursue in college.
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