Report: Few black students major in high-paying fields

New York - Research shows that the good jobs (secure, high-paying, non-manual labour) are going to people with a Bachelor's degree. It's clear that the job market values college graduates. But some degrees pay off in career success more than others, and that's hurting black college-educated Americans, research shows.

Black students major less frequently in the lucrative fields of engineering and pharmaceutical sciences than in such lower-earning areas as social work and psychology, according to a report from the Georgetown University Centre on Education and the Workforce.

Although black college enrollment grew from 10% to 15% from 1976 to 2012, according to the National Centre for Education Statistics (NCES), the new report suggested that this group of students is still not being funneled toward the highest-paying careers.