Decline in humanities majors continues
Humanities departments across American colleges graduated their lowest number of majors in 2025 since 1991, according to a report by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.
At Stanford, the popularity crisis is nothing new.
The number of bachelor’s degrees awarded by the University in the humanities and arts has fallen 56% since 2003. This decline, from 324 in 2003-2004 to 143 in 2025-2026, has continued even as the overall number of undergraduate degrees granted has increased.
The reasons for this decline vary. According to nationwide research conducted by the Academy, students are driven by “concerns about employability, the effects of high-stakes standardized testing in humanities subjects and decreasing interest among young people in teaching as a career.”
Assistant Dean of Humanities and Social Sciences Jeff Schwegman has worked on “demystifying” the humanities at Stanford since 2014.
Stanford students in particular, he said, are wary of the absence of a clear career “escalator” in the humanities — a predictable, linear pathway to employment. In the process of reaching the top of the college escalator, high-achieving students have their comfort zone and identity shaped by an experience where their goal is clear: get in.
