Which Colleges Offer the Best Career Services and Internship Placement for Non-STEM Majors?
If your student is pursuing a humanities, social science, or liberal arts major, the quality of a college’s career services can shape their post-graduation outcomes just as much as academics. The colleges that offer the strongest career support for non-STEM majors tend to be smaller liberal arts institutions with dedicated advising staff, accessible career centers, and active alumni networks.
Several larger universities also deliver excellent support for students who know how to seek it out. Understanding what separates a good career center from a great one is essential as you build your college list and navigate the application process.
Why Do Smaller Liberal Arts Colleges Often Provide Better Career Support for Humanities Students?
One of the most important factors in career services quality for non-STEM students is the student-to-counselor ratio. At smaller liberal arts colleges, career advisors know students individually: their academic interests, their personality, their evolving goals. This level of personalization simply cannot be replicated at a university where thousands of students compete for the same career center appointments.
Sarah Myers, senior admissions consultant at Great College Advice, speaks from firsthand experience on this topic. As a psychology major at Colgate University, she benefited from exactly this kind of personalized attention: “I was able to spend a lot of time speaking to a career advisor who remembered other psychology majors she had counseled before. Because it was a small student body, she had deep knowledge of what worked for students like me. She made a suggestion that led me to teach in Japan for three and a half years—and that experience ultimately shaped my entire career path.”
This level of individualized guidance is characteristic of the Colleges That Change Lives (CTCL) group, which Sarah specifically highlights as “well known for being very nurturing schools and wonderful places to get that advising help.”
At liberal arts colleges, professors also play a more direct role in career development. As Sarah explains: “You might have a first-year seminar class with 20 or even fewer students, and you develop a relationship with that professor who may then become your advisor. They get to know you as a person, they can write better letters of recommendation, and they can point you toward opportunities you might not discover on your own.”
At larger research universities, professors may spend more time with graduate students, and undergraduates often need to be more proactive about building those relationships. However, some large universities offer exploratory studies programs and dedicated career advising for undeclared students that can bridge this gap.
How Can Parents Evaluate a College’s Career Center Before Their Student Enrolls?
When touring campuses or researching schools online, parents should dig deeper than the glossy brochures. Here are the most important questions to ask when evaluating career services for a non-STEM student:
Staffing and accessibility
How many full-time career counselors serve the student body? Can students drop by during walk-in hours, or do they need to book appointments weeks in advance? Sarah recommends looking at “how many staff are there, what are their hours, and whether it’s hard to make appointments or you can just drop by.”
Alumni network activity
Many colleges publish data on alumni mentoring participation. As Sarah notes, “A lot of times colleges publish the information of how many alumni have helped out other graduates from that college.” This is one of the most reliable indicators of post-graduation career support.
Career outcomes data
Look for employment rates within six months of graduation, graduate school placement rates, and the industries where graduates land. More colleges are making this data publicly available.
Non-STEM-specific resources
Does the career center have dedicated counselors or employer partnerships for humanities, social science, and liberal arts students? Or does the center primarily serve pre-professional and STEM programs?
Internship and funding support
Does the college offer funded internship programs for students pursuing unpaid positions in nonprofit, public sector, or arts organizations?
The Great College Advice Family Handbook recommends that families should “make sure that the career and academic advising system is well structured to provide the student with continued guidance while an undergraduate.” This principle applies equally during the college search and the college experience itself.
As a member of the Great College Advice community, advises: parents should encourage their student to “make an appointment with the career center counselor” early to start exploring options before the pressure of job searching begins. Ideally in the first semester.
What Types of Internships Are Available for Non-STEM Majors, and How Do Colleges Help Students Find Them?
Non-STEM internships span a broad range of industries and functions:
- Publishing
- Media and communications
- Public policy and government
- Nonprofit management
- Arts administration
- Marketing and advertising
- Law firms
- Education
- Social services
- and corporate roles in human resources, consulting, and project management.
The perception that internships only exist for STEM or business students is outdated.
Colleges support non-STEM internship placement through several mechanisms. On-campus career center databases connect students with employers actively recruiting liberal arts graduates. Alumni referral networks provide warm introductions to industry professionals. Funded internship programs offer stipends so students can afford to accept otherwise unpaid positions at nonprofits, cultural organizations, or government offices. Some schools also offer for-credit internship courses that integrate professional experience with academic reflection.
For families considering international options, the UK university system offers a particularly compelling model. As discussed in a Great College Advice webinar on studying in the UK, many British universities offer “sandwich year” placements where students spend a full year in a paid professional role as part of their degree. “Your student will be getting paid, and you won’t be paying tuition” during that year—making it both a career development opportunity and a financial advantage.
When evaluating any college, ask whether the career center partners with specific employers in humanities-relevant fields and whether professors in non-STEM departments actively connect students with professional opportunities.
Does Choosing a Non-STEM Major Put My Student at a Disadvantage for Career Outcomes and ROI?
This is one of the most common concerns among practical-minded parents, and the answer is more nuanced than the headlines suggest. The jobs or professions that are the most lucrative today may not be so tomorrow. Think of the computer programmers trained in the 1980s and 1990s who found their jobs outsourced to India. Think of the rise of social media and the decline of newspapers and magazines.
The reality is that young people entering the workforce today will have multiple jobs and more than one career over their lifetimes. A non-STEM major that develops strong critical thinking, writing, analytical reasoning, and communication skills often provides more career flexibility over the long run than a narrow technical specialization.
Many graduate and professional programs actively prefer applicants with non-STEM backgrounds. Medical schools recruit students with humanities majors—the MCAT itself now includes sociology, psychology, philosophy, and economics. Law schools accept any undergraduate major. Journalism editors often prefer candidates with substantive subject-matter expertise over those with journalism degrees.
Parents should consider the higher education investment as an investment in their student, rather than as an investment in a particular university or a particular major.
The key to strong ROI for a non-STEM student is not the major itself, but the quality of career advising, internship access, and alumni connections a college provides—which brings us back to the importance of evaluating these factors carefully during the college search.
How Should Undecided Students Choose a College That Supports Exploration While Still Offering Strong Career Services?
Being undecided about a major is far more common and far less concerning than many families realize. When a high school senior says they have ‘no idea,’ this can be chalked up to youthful exaggeration. An 18-year-old has at least some idea of which subjects and tasks are more interesting, which come more easily, and which may be worth exploring.
The Great College Advice team recommends a three-part strategy for undecided students.
- First, pick colleges with strengths that match the student’s general areas of interest, even without a declared major.
- Second, verify that the career and academic advising system is structured to provide ongoing guidance throughout the undergraduate experience.
- Third, ensure the school encourages first-year exploration through open curricula, seminars, or exploratory studies tracks.
Veteran college counselor Jamie Berger emphasizes that fit should always come before prestige. He uses a comprehensive criteria spreadsheet with approximately 100 categories—from majors and campus environment to internship access—to help families identify schools that genuinely match a student’s needs and goals. As he puts it: “Fit is what we focus on. The kid who likes Ithaca, New York won’t like Morningside Heights in Manhattan.”
Liberal arts colleges are particularly well-suited for undecided students because academic exploration is built into the structure—every student takes a range of courses before declaring a major. Some larger universities also offer exploratory studies programs, but students should confirm that career center resources specifically support undeclared students, not just those in pre-professional tracks.
A community member in the Great College Advice group recommended that families of undecided students “check out the Colleges That Change Lives. All LACs. All offer generous merit. Located in every region.” These schools are known not only for nurturing academic exploration but for providing the personalized advising that helps students connect their evolving interests to meaningful career paths.
What Role Does the Alumni Network Play in Career Outcomes for Non-STEM Graduates?
For non-STEM graduates, the alumni network may be the single most valuable career resource a college provides. Unlike STEM fields where technical credentials and certifications drive hiring decisions, careers in media, publishing, politics, consulting, education, and the arts depend heavily on professional relationships, mentorship, and referrals.
Colleges with active alumni networks give graduates ongoing access to informational interviews, job leads, industry mentorship, and professional development events—not just for the first job out of college, but throughout an entire career. Sarah recommends that parents research “how many alumni have helped out other graduates from that college,” noting that schools increasingly publish this data.
When comparing schools, look for dedicated alumni mentoring platforms, regional alumni chapters that host networking events, and formal programs that connect current students with graduates in their fields of interest. The strength of these networks is often what transforms a liberal arts degree from an academic credential into a professional launchpad.
One parent in the Great College Advice community noted that a strong alumni network was a key factor in their student’s success after graduating from a business-focused program—and this principle applies equally, if not more so, to non-STEM graduates who rely on professional connections rather than technical certifications to advance their careers.
Navigating the college search with career outcomes in mind is one of the most important things a practical-minded family can do. For personalized guidance on building a college list that balances academic fit, career services, and financial considerations, schedule a free consultation.
