What can I do with a degree in philosophy?
Most of the students studying philosophy at St. Norbert College are individuals who are not satisfied merely to accept the superficial answers to basic human questions that present-day culture offers. They want to search beneath the surface of human experience to discover firmer moral and rational principles on which to ground their personal lives. They also recognize that the critical skills that philosophy offers are exactly the qualities that future employers in all fields (business, law, education) seek in their future leaders.
In a study by the U.S. Department of Education of nineteen years (1964-1982) of standardized testing of undergraduates on the three principle examinations for entry into graduate school (GRE), law school (LSAT) and business school (GMAT), there was a direct correlation between student performance and student undergraduate major. Of the more than thirty majors surveyed:
- The only two majors which performed substantially better than the national average on each of the tests were philosophy majors and biology majors.
- The highest performers on the verbal portion of the GRE were philosophy majors.
- The only majors among the humanities and social sciences to perform significantly higher than the national average on the quantitative portion of the GRE were philosophy majors and economics majors.
- The highest performers on both the LSAT and GMAT were philosophy majors, mathematics majors and engineering majors.
"Philosophy: A Brief Guide for Undergraduates" - a publication by the American Philosophical Association. |
St. Norbert graduates:
Our philosophy majors have a strong record of accomplishment after graduation. Just over one half (51%) of our majors have continued on to earn a master's degree, and 16% have completed a doctoral or professional degree.
Recent graduates have found careers in:
- education (teaching/administration)
- legal practice
- local government
- the corporate world
- clinical psychology
- religious life (clergy/lay persons)
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