Loved Degree #1: Bachelor's in Health Care Administration

Do you have a passion for health care but want to pursue more of a leadership role? Consider earning a degree in health care administration.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor's 2010-2020 projections, 28 percent of all new jobs in the U.S. economy will be in the health care and social assistance industry.

So it's no wonder that the "Hard Times" report found a 2.9 percent unemployment rate for experienced health and medical administrative services grads.

"The cost of health care is now 18 percent of GDP (gross domestic product), our total economic activity," says Carnevale. "It's the biggest industry we have." And because management of that industry is such a large part of it, this is an attractive degree to employers, according to Carnevale.

Health services administration programs could include courses from accounting and health care law to health care ethics and epidemiology, according to the College Board, an organization of colleges and universities that administers tests such as the SAT.

Hated Degree #1: Bachelor's in Architecture

Okay, so architecture might not be such a hated degree; it's just that there aren't many employers around to love it, says Carnevale.

Basically, it's all tied to the capital markets and the implosion of the housing market over the past few years. According to Carnevale, when Wall Street went under so did construction - which is closely linked to architecture field.

Perhaps that's why recent architecture graduates had an unemployment rate of 13.9 percent - the worst unemployment rate of all the listed degrees in the "Hard Times" report.

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But if your passion still has you signing up for this degree, here are a few examples of the courses that are generally offered in an architecture program, according to the College Board: architectural design, building methods and materials, architectural history, and structural design.