Staff Writer- Izabell Newman
Photo Credits: Anyah Moffett
Being a humanities student these days can feel challenging: the pressure to use artificial intelligence, the depressing post-grad job market, and the lack of federal support have all made it feel like it may just be better to drop out and work at a bar where you could at least drink your sorrows away. The burden of choosing between one’s passions and making a decent income are weighing heavily on students. What happens to the young academic when the government has made it very clear that your work is not valued? That you are a replaceable machine? The pessimistic cultural shift we’re seeing toward a less-human future is being headed not just by huge corporations, but also by the federal government, and students are feeling the brunt of it. However, the recent rise in the popularity of artificial intelligence gives the humanities something unique, something purely human. And even though federal and public interest in the humanities continues to decline, the skills they teach may be needed now more than ever before as media competence reaches an all-time low.
Thirty years ago, according to the Education Data Initiative, the average cost of attending a private college was $12,240. In 2026, the average cost is nearly $40,000. They also cite that the cost of tuition has risen 46.5% faster than the rise of inflation; in other words, the cost of education is growing far quicker than the devaluation of money. For many middle and lower class Americans, these large numbers are very frightening as students are encouraged to take out larger private loans as options for federal loans decrease. These rising costs are due to a number of factors, with one of the biggest being federal budget cuts to the Department of Education. However, certain areas of education are being hit harder than others, namely humanities programs.
Education Weekly lists just a handful of federal grants that had their budgets slashed, including important names like the American History and Civics Grant ($36,807,694 cut), and the grant for Assistance in Art Education ($6,900,578 cut). Budget cuts to the humanities are, of course, nothing new, though the massive cuts come at a time when media literacy is dwindling. It feels more important now than ever that the youth learn the skills necessary for critical thinking, skills which can be learned anywhere but are facilitated best by the higher level study of subjects like communication or philosophy. Colleges and universities are being faced with difficult choices: raise tuition or cut programs that lack funding. And with a declining interest in humanities and a shrinking job market, it’s easier to simply cut programs with low enrollment.
However, studying the humanities offers an avenue for students to better their critical thinking and broaden their worldview. The humanities, which include religious studies, history, sociology, philosophy, and more, are named as such because they are inherently human-focused — and that is precisely what will make them valuable over the course of the next decade. While data on this subject is currently shaky, an article by Forbes pointed out that the over-use of AI in the coming years will create a knowledge gap in professional fields that the humanities may fill. Even though artificial intelligence can crank out answers, it doesn’t have the human insight that comes from years of lived experience and research. When everyone becomes reliant on AI to do the thinking for them, the ability to articulate complex thoughts will only grow in value.
So then, what do the humanities have to offer that other fields don’t? Well first of all, say goodbye to fractions and mental math because here, numbers are merely a concept (most of the time). Say hello instead to the pen (or keyboard) because it will become your best friend; truly, if you cannot see yourself hunched over a desk crunching numbers for the rest of your life, an education or career in the humanities may be for you. Secondly, anyone who’s ever been the person at the party talking about “the meaning of life” and the “socio-economic state of the world” might want to give a humanities course a shot. If you find yourself frequently pondering why things are the way they are, you’re the perfect candidate for a humanities degree. And if big ideas seem a bit daunting, that’s okay! There are plenty of different studies within the humanities that require different skills. So whether you’re a history nerd, like learning languages, or really just enjoy art, consider your future in a humanities field; you might just love it.
Will the humanities be given more funding? Probably not! But that doesn’t mean the skillset a humanities education produces will become obsolete. In fact, that skillset in question is likely to become extremely valuable within the next few decades. So if you’re a humanities student like me, or are considering majoring in a humanities subject, don’t let the bad news get you down. We are the only species on the planet with the capacity to think about things as deeply as we can, and that is something to celebrate! So next time your mom tells you your anthropology degree is “worthless” and “unimportant”, tell her that she’s lucky she’s retiring from accounting before Claude takes her job.