Let's look at the top result for google for "film and media studies major salary".

- Job Growth (8% writers & authors, 12% producers and directors, 5% advertising and promotions managers)

- Average Salary ($73k writers and authors, 89k producers, 133k advertising and promotion managers)

Sounds pretty good right? the part that's missing is that the placement rate of "Film and Media majors" into these fields.

That doesn't sound like starting salaries. Who starts as an advertising and promotion manager?

The average starting salary for a film and media studies is $22,656 per year. https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=27828557

Now, given 2087 working hours in a year, and $15/hr, that yields an annual pay of $31,305. 50% MORE than a FAM studies college graduate.

All with a few seconds of effort, with a device in everyone's pocket.

Right, the more important stat is if/what the school publishes for - % employed at graduation and average salary. My school had this online in the 90s, though I suspect many hide this now.

Right, if STEM kids could figure this out in the late 90s on dial-up and pay by the minute internet, then 2020s kids with iPhones in their pocket can check this in seconds in between classes and TikToks.

You're discounting the impact of aggressive marketing for these programs in the 2020s vs. virtually zero back in the 1990s.

As well as there being less non degree career options that pay decently, causing many young folks to feel "a degree" is only option.