Engineers study the most, and business majors the least, according to the National Survey of Student Engagement, a project that tries to measure how hard students are working.

Good for you engineers.

The survey, which was filled out last school year, asked more than 400,000 freshmen or seniors, at approximately 700 universities in the United States.

According to the NSSE, 42 percent of engineers say they spend at least 20 hours per week studying. Other majors follow, in descending order, as physical sciences, biological sciences, arts and humanities, education and social sciences. The major with the fewest reported study hours was business, with only 19 percent saying they spend 20 hours or more each week on schoolwork.

Business is one of the biggest majors on campus. So that means there’s a large number of students on campus who study less than 20 hours a week. Welcome to Arizona.

On the bright side, the fact that engineers are studying is comforting. What do engineering majors study to do? Build bridges, airplanes, cars, weapons — basically things you don’t want having errors, or your life could end.

Business majors, while important to a capitalist economy, study to manage others or run numbers. Your life doesn’t depend on a good business leader. While driving over a bridge during a storm you probably aren’t thinking “Man, I hope the CEO of the company that funded this is a really great accountant.” You’re thinking, “Man I hope the engineer really studied his stuff at college.”

And let’s be honest, it’s a hell of a lot easier to pass a History 150 class than a Chemistry 151 class. The sciences aren’t subjective. In a theater class, you don’t have to cram and scramble to memorize equations and how to apply them; grades are based on performance. In science, there’s only one right answer. In history or humanities, it’s how well you can argue your view.

For hard science majors, if they’re passing their classes, they’re probably studying their asses off. But, there’s definitely a benefit to all this cramming: money.

“As a group, engineers earn some of the highest average starting salaries among those holding bachelor’s degrees,” according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics website. The average starting salary was around $60,000.

So in this instance, all work and no play makes Jack a rich boy.
Now, business majors and humanities students aren’t just partying and goofing off. When they aren’t studying, business majors spend the majority of their extra time working.

Business majors average 16 hours a week at paying jobs, more than their peers in other majors, according to an article in The New York Times, while engineering students spend the least, with nine hours.

As someone in the social sciences, I find this information comforting. So while I work my three jobs and choose classes based on the least amount of work, at least I know I’m not the only one.

— Michelle A. Monroe is a journalism senior. She can be reached at letters@wildcat.arizona.edu.