IN PRINT: Bad job market spurs undergrads to concentrate in pre-professional majors

It's become an almost endless refrain repeated by the news and countless parents to college students across the country: good luck trying to find a job in this terrible economy.Interviews with officials and concentration data from four New Jersey universities show that in order to improve their chances of finding jobs in today's lackluster job market, many New Jersey college students have chosen to major in fields that they believe will maximize their potential at finding post-graduation jobs. For many students, this means picking to concentrate in pre-professional majors like engineering, business, and health instead of the humanities or social sciences. The idea behind this is that these are the majors that will teach you concrete skills in fields that will always need more workers.After speaking with officials from several New Jersey universities, there does seem to be logic in this argument. After all, when you're in a hospital, you definitely want a nurse who knows what she is doing taking care of you.  And you certainly don't want someone who doesn't know the basics of engineering designing a bridge or a skyscraper. Or imagine an accountant who doesn't even know how to balance a checkbook?Read more at the Asbury Park Press.