19-year-old college student refuses to change her major from Fine Arts to Computer Science despite her parents' insistence: 'If I don’t change my major by next semester, they’ll cut off their financial support.'

Author image for Emmy Pratt
Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Oct 10, 2025 8:00 PM EDT

If a parent is going to pay for their kid's college education, they usually have some say in where their kid goes to school and what they study. There are parents out there who are happy to pay $200K for their child to get a musical theatre degree, but those are few and far between. Most parents who have saved up for their kids' college are still somewhat restricted by a budget. They might be able to pay for their kids' college education, but only if their kids all attend public state schools and get hefty scholarships. Some parents have the money to finance a less practical degree, but are unwilling to do that. A lot of parents won't pay for their kids' college unless they get a business or STEM degree because they see those as surefire things. That might be a tough pill to swallow for students who are not interested in those subjects, but at the end of the day, it is their parents' money, and if they won't pay for a History degree but will pay for an Accounting degree, that's their decision to make. 

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  • Woman in a black and brown floral long sleeve shirt painting a picture of a man wearing a blue turban
    via Subhkaran Singh

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • The young woman in this story is in a challenging situation. Her parents won't pay for college unless she changes her major from Fine Arts to Computer Science. I'd argue that shifting to a conventional liberal arts degree might be less jarring than a Computer Science degree, but her dad would disagree with that assessment. 

  • Am I wrong for refusing to switch my college major even though my parents say I’m wasting money?

    I (19F) am in my second year of college, diving into Fine Arts. Painting and design have always been my passion, and I dream of working in digital illustration once I graduate. My parents have been helping with my tuition, but they've made it clear they'll support me as long as I make smart choices.
    via u/Ornery_Category_8645
  • Recently, my dad dropped a bombshell, saying that art isn't a real career and that I should switch to something more useful like business or computer science. He warned that if I don't change my major by next semester, they'll cut off their financial support.
    via u/Ornery_Category_8645
  • Man in a gray crew neck shirt standing beside woman in pink tank top
    via Nikolas Noonan

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • I tried to explain that I get where they're coming from, but this is my life, and I want to pursue a career that makes me happy. My mom chimed in, calling me ungrateful and stubborn, claiming I'm wasting their hard work by chasing a hobby.
    via u/Ornery_Category_8645
  • Now they're saying I might have to move back home if I can't afford to stay in school without their help. I love my parents, but it feels like they're trying to dictate my choices. AITA for standing my ground and sticking with my passion instead of switching majors?
    via u/Ornery_Category_8645
  • Black flat screen computer monitor
    via Radowan Nakif Rehan

    Image is representative only and does not depict the actual subjects of the story.

  • 9smalltowngirl Double major. You have a back up while hunting a job in your passion. They get a more employable degree. Something in finance perhaps. It'd be helpful for you if you ever want to be your own boss.
    via u/9smalltowngirl
  • Medical-Aide5586 this is the answer. my roommate had a double major in art and biology. got a job doing medical illustrations . later became a science teacher. your career will be a series of stepping stones. your education can help you get on that first stone, but you may find your path ending up very far from where you started. double major allows you to have multiple options. so double major in art & accounting. art& event management, art & project management, art & supply chain management. o
    via u/Medical-Aide5586
  • realize is a job that demands your creativity every day, 40 hours a week for years - that can be hard to sustain, and can result in burnout or a loss of passion. Options are good.
    via u/Medical-Aide5586
  • nvrhsot Yeah...Note how its "art and...." with the "and" being the predicate employment path.
    via u/nvrhsot
  • Medical-Aide5586 there are plenty of people whose jobs did not follow a predictable employment path. a lot of people used their degree to get a job, figured out what they liked/did well about it, what they sucked at/HATED about it, and used that to get the next job that had Moore of the liked and less of the hated stuff. rinse and repeat, until they ended up far away from the original area of study. But they got that first step, and they may still use the skills (creativity, visual analytical sk
    via u/Medical-Aide5586
  • Guilty Application14 Second this. Our daughter got a degree in fine arts. She struggled for several years until she got a receptionist job at an investment management firm. They taught her the business and she parlayed that into a position developing illustrations for everything the company did, then carried that to a director-level position at another firm. Got a Master's in data and design along the way.
    via u/Guilty_Application14
  • sdgengineer A good idea, My daughter studied to be a history teacher I paid for her college, during student teaching, she decided she couldn't deal with the parents, I then paid for her to get an associates in art/graphic design. she wished she had got a degree in marketing. she now works in a print shop and enjoys it...
    via u/sdgengineer
  • fair-strawberry6709 ESH. I know a lot of people with fine arts degrees. I don't know anyone who is making money off a fine arts degree, they have all either gotten more retail or schooling/training to do something else that actually pays the bills, or they are stuck working food service jobs.
    via u/fair-strawberry6709
  • It isn't fair for them to give you an ultimatum, but it is also their money and they are right to encourage you to pick a degree that can actually be used to make money.
    via u/fair-strawberry6709
  • III_Reading_5290 Computer science is bloated and jobs are being outsourced overseas. A computer science degree is no longer a guarantee for a decent career. A business degree without connections or the personality to make the connections you need is also not a guaranteed winner. So much of the discussion around education is based on maximizing ROI and not enough about people doing what they're actually good at and capable of handling.
    via u/III_Reading_5290
  • Mmm_lemon_cakes Yeah, OP's parents are stuck in the early 2000s when those majors were poppin. If you want a guaranteed job these days, some kind of engineering, or actually accounting weirdly. (Hardly anyone is going into accounting these days and these is an understaffing in those jobs.) but healthcare jobs are the real solid choice right now. But all of these are not the kind of thing a fine arts person would like or would typically be good at.
    via u/Mmm_lemon_cakes
  • Senior-Senior If I had it all to do over again, I would major in finance. Knowing how to handle money is a great skill to know just for your personal well being. Plus, almost every company hires finance people for some position.
    via u/Senior-Senior
  • Mmm_lemon_cakes I can't argue with that. My company is oddly bloated with Finance people. After rounds and rounds of layoffs the Finance department seems completely oversized, and their processes are ancient. And don't get going on the fact that the average span of control in Finance is tiny compared to any other department.
    via u/Mmm_lemon_cakes
  • Smores-Lover Major for money. Minor for fun. I wish my parents had told me that.
    via u/Smores-Lover
  • Ok_Account_8599 They're not wrong, unfortunately. My child is degreed in graphic design and was unable to find work in the field. The one foray into a corporate "art" setting resulted in frustration and anxiety. Working in a complete different setting now. Hasn't done art since then, sadly.
    via u/Ok_Account_8599
  • ThrowRA_iiidk Hot take, but also a compromise: move towards a business degree focused in marketing. Graphic designers are much more likely to get hired with business degrees because the internships and entry level roles are marketing, but a lot of the entry roles are more focused on website marketing/operations or event marketing.
    via u/ThrowRA_iiidk
  • Switch to business (if you have a high GPA and can get into the business school at your college), and you can pick minors around art that translate to graphic design, or at least switch to Communications with a marketing/business/technology focus if you can't get into the business school (not all hope is lost if you don't get into BA!).
    via u/ThrowRA_iiidk
  • After that, you build your resume with marketing and graphic design internships as a junior/senior over the summers, and then get into an entry level marketing career. You can EASILY move into more artistic roles via graphic design with growing tech companies who are building or rebuilding their brands—it depends on the company you stick with once you're in a full-time role. Because it's so competitive, I'd suggest going for a paid spring senior internship in marketing that has the possibility o
    via u/ThrowRA_iiidk
  • the private series C+ companies that are still developing their artistic vision/brand and you can move up fast and have a ton of autonomy. Coming from a tech girl who worked at a HUGE tech company pre-IPO, through their IPO, immediately moved to private startups using that "logo" and moved up the ladder super fast, I was in a senior role by 25.
    via u/ThrowRA_iiidk
  • Heck, you can use the business/marketing degree with minors in art, history, and art history to go into interior design, or move to an art-heavy area and work at galleries.. because all of those roles have a business/selling/marketing aspect to them with twists in art/history, which are applicable extra-curricular classes even in business degrees (I took psych and art classes in conjunction with my business degree). You just have to play the system right to make the most out of college.
    via u/ThrowRA_iiidk

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family drama school art major computer science college student problems financial family financial support money college college student parents parenting
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