According to The Daily Beast, Tina Brown’s e-zine that Newsweek bought, becoming a history major is the 12th worst choice a student can make.  Of course, that’s based on this criteria:

Unemployment, recent grad: 10.2 percent
Unemployment, experienced grad: 5.8 percent
Earnings, recent grad: $32,000
Earnings, experienced grad: $54,000
Projected growth, 2010-2020: +18 percent
Related occupation: Historian

All that said, 18% growth is fantastic!  No wonder I had such a good time at this year’s AHA, although I’d love to know how they came up with that figure.

Nevertheless, I’d still choose different criteria when defining “useful,” but maybe that’s just me.