Northern Illinois University
Department of Philosophy
College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

Studying philosophy teaches you critical thinking and writing skills that are conducive to success in a wide variety of careers and occupations. A recent article in The Huffington Post detailed the impact of philosophy majors in the business world and recent articles in The Atlantic and Salon have called philosophy "the most practical major" because it prepares graduates for diverse employment opportunities through the inculcation of transferable skills.

A major in philosophy is also outstanding preparation for advanced study in graduate and professional programs, including business, medicine, and law.

• Philosophy majors score among the highest of all majors (and significantly higher than business management majors) on the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT), which is typically required for admission to M.B.A. programs.
• Philosophy majors are among the very top performers on the Law School Admission Test (LSAT).
• Philosophy majors have the highest mean composite score of all majors on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE), which is typically required for admission to graduate programs.

According to PayScale, philosophy majors who enter the work force directly after graduation from college are most frequently employed as program coordinators in non-profit organizations, paralegals, senior software engineers/developers/programmers, information technology managers, general/operations managers and retail store managers. The State of Illinois Occupational Employment Projections (Long-term) 2006-2016 lists all of these as growth fields.