Virginia college students are increasingly opting to study STEM and health-related fields, according to a review of state data.

Why it matters: The shift suggests that today's students are increasingly prioritizing future job security and pay over a broad liberal arts education — once the sole reason students pursued higher education.

State of play: Business or business administration has been the most popular undergrad degree for Virginia public university students nearly every year since the early 1990s — and it was last year, per data from the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia.

Yes, but: Beginning roughly 20 years ago, and accelerating in the last 10, students increasingly started moving toward STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) and health fields.

• And along the way, they've been dropping traditional humanities studies.

You can blame the Great Recession for the drop in students studying humanities, like English lit, history, philosophy and languages, according to education pub The Hechinger Report.

• Going back to the 1950s, the most popular undergrad majors tend to follow the broader economy, Hechinger reports. When it's booming, students flock to the humanities. When it's not (see also the 1970s), career-oriented majors surge in popularity.
• However, with the 2005 recession, students left the humanities and never returned.

By the numbers: In 2004-05, Virginia public university students earned 6,700 STEM-related bachelor's degrees (like engineering, computer science, biology, and health), per SCHEV data.

• In 2014-15, they awarded early twice that: 11,196.
• Last year, it was 14,100.
• Meanwhile, the number of humanities bachelor's degrees awarded by the state's public universities dropped by more than 2,000 in the last 20 years.

Zoom out: Nationwide, the share of students graduating with degrees in the humanities dropped by 24% between 2012 and 2022, per the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

• The number of bachelor's degrees awarded in computer science more than doubled over the same period.

Zoom in: The shift can be seen across the state's public universities.

• Health was the top graduating major for undergrads last year at JMU and Radford; 20 years ago, business was the top major for both.
• While business degrees still dominate at George Mason and Virginia Tech — the state's largest schools — the number of computer science degrees they're awarding has more than doubled in the last decade.
• Even traditionally more liberal arts-focused schools have shifted. Business was the top graduating degree last year for Mary Washington and Longwood. A decade ago, it was social sciences and liberal arts.

What we're watching: If AI could threaten the future jobs of these STEM grads — or if their frequent use of the tech while still in school, as a recent Virginia Tech study found, makes them better positioned to harness it in their careers.

Here's how each school's top undergraduate major evolved from 2004 to 2014 to 2024, per SCHEV.

Christopher Newport: Business Administration ➡️ Psychology ➡️ Business Administration

George Mason: Psychology ➡️ Psychology ➡️ Business/Commerce

JMU: Speech Communication ➡️ Speech Communication ➡️ Health Services / Allied Health

Longwood: Business Administration ➡️ Liberal Studies ➡️ Business Administration

Norfolk State: Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies ➡️ Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies ➡️ Business/Commerce

ODU: Multi-/Interdisciplinary Studies ➡️ Psychology ➡️ Psychology

Mary Washington: Business Administration ➡️ Business Administration ➡️ Business Administration

UVA: Economics ➡️ Liberal Studies ➡️ Liberal Studies

UVA's College at Wise: Social Sciences ➡️ Social Sciences ➡️ Liberal Studies

VCU: Psychology ➡️ Psychology ➡️ Psychology

VMI: History ➡️ Civil Engineering ➡️ International Relations

Virginia State: Liberal Studies ➡️ Criminal Justice ➡️ Criminal Justice

Virginia Tech: Biology ➡️ Mechanical Engineering ➡️ Computer & Information Sciences

William & Mary: Psychology ➡️ Business Administration ➡️ Business Administration

Speaking of college, the share of Richmonders 25 and older with a bachelor's degree or higher rose from about 37% to 41% between the 2015-2019 and 2020-2024 periods, Alex Fitzpatrick and Jacque Schrag report from new census data.

Why it matters: Richmond is faring better than the national average where just 38% of adults held a bachelors between 2020-2024, up from 34% in 2015-2019.

📈 The biggest gains among the 100 largest metro areas: Durham, N.C. (53%, up from 45%); New Haven, Conn. (42%, up from 35%) and Austin, Texas (51%, up from 45%).

• Springfield, Mass. was the only metro with a decrease, dropping from about 33% to 29%.

📊 How it works: That's based on the Census Bureau's latest 5-year American Community Survey estimates.

• 🚚 A given metro's share can increase if more residents get their degrees, or if more people with degrees move into town.

Virginia's public universities boast a wide array of wacky characters that serve as school mascots.

Why it matters: We may not have anything as weird as Evergreen State's burrowing clam or the literal Banana Slug at UC Santa Cruz, but we do have a kangaroo, a Highlander, a Spartan and a Trojan.

And we're betting you didn't know all of them, so now you do.

🦅 🦁William & Mary: Reveley the Griffin.

🫡 Christopher Newport University: Captain Chris.

🇺🇸 George Mason: The Patriot.

🐶 JMU: Duke Dog.

🐴 Longwood: Elwood the horse.

🇬🇷 Norfolk State University: Spiro the Spartan (often referred to as Mr. Spartan).

🦁 Old Dominion: Big Blue — an anthropomorphic lion.

🧔Radford: The Highlander.

🦅 Mary Washington: Sammy D. Eagle.

⚔️ UVA: The Cavalier.

🐏 VCU: Rodney the Ram.

🦘 VMI: Moe the Kangaroo — represents the Keydets.

🦃 Virginia Tech: The HokieBird.

🇹🇷 VSU: Trojans.

We've got one more special higher education brief coming up, this one in the spring.

Why it matters: It'll drop just in time for high school graduation and we want to use it to impart some wisdom.

The ask: What advice would you give students heading off to college for the first time?

• Or, what's the best advice you got before you went off to school?

➡️ Let us know here and your response could be included in the next edition.