The Federal Reserve released the “Economic Well-Being of U.S. Households in 2023” report. It shows more than 40% of those who majored in social and behavioral sciences, humanities and arts, life sciences and law regret their studies the most.

“The fields that seem to have the most dissatisfaction are ones that either don’t have clear career paths, can’t tie directly to what they would be doing after college, or are ones where the field is going to result in a low-paying job,” explained David Dillard, CEO of KD College Prep.

Grads who studied health, computer information sciences and engineering are least likely to regret their major.

“Any field where there are abundant job opportunities will become popular,” Dillard said. “There are a lot of people who are wired for STEM jobs and careers, but there are a lot of people chasing it because they’ve heard it’s a good thing to do, not because they are necessarily interested in it.”

Even so, education was largely seen as a path to higher income and greater financial well-being. Most adults who completed a bachelor’s degree or higher said it was worth the cost.

Only 27% of engineering graduates would now choose a different field of study. It is the least regretted field, and salary could be a reason. Government data shows the average salary is over $90,000, above the overall average salary of $48,060.

Another survey from ZipRecruiter shows journalism is the most regretted major, with 87% of grads wishing they had chosen something else. Dillard said if you regret your studies, you should take time to understand how you are wired.

“What do I hope to achieve? What do I want my life to look like? Where are my passions, interests, aspirations, and what could I do to pursue those?”

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The Health Resources and Services Administration, an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is pumping an additional $400 million into the program, thanks to bipartisan legislation. The program brings nurses, healthcare workers and social workers to help with breastfeeding and postpartum care in the homes of new moms.

Fatima Ray, the maternal health coordinator at Primo Center for Women and Children in Chicago said the program is life-changing.

“I was definitely suffering with postpartum depression. My baby was very colic,” Ray explained. “She was crying all the time.”

A trip to the library changed everything.

“There was this paper that was like, ‘Do you need parenting help?’ So I ripped it off.” Ray said.

She became a participant in the program and was paired with Ms. Christie.

“She helped me figure out what it even meant to have a colicky baby and how to soothe. Once we were done figuring that part out, we started with sleep training” Ray said.

Carole Johnson, the administrator of the Health Resources and Services Administration, said the program has improved school readiness and achievement of children, improved health for women, increased health insurance coverage and prevented child injuries, abuse and neglect.

“The research is there that shows the difference it makes in making sure kids are ready for school, that they develop language skills earlier that were helping to prevent all kinds of negative outcomes for families,” Johnson said.

With a push from Ms. Christie, Ray returned to school and now works for the program that once helped her.

“She really just empowered me and made me feel as though whatever choice I made was the best choice,” Ray described her sessions with her home visitor. “We make such a big difference on a day to day, even the smallest of things. So I’m just really appreciative that HRSA is investing in this.”

The added funding will expand services to another 30,000 people, prioritizing families with incomes near the poverty line. Currently, 167,000 participate in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and five territories.

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“We can expect to have children become sick with upper respiratory infections with school time. It’s just common, and it’s what happens. We want to make sure that we’re recognizing those signs and symptoms early on,” explained Dr. Stephen Ferrara, president of the American Association of Nurse Practitioners. “We’ve seen an uptick in COVID infections throughout the United States. So certainly, COVID is a concern, and we know that influenza is always a concern.”

Ferrara said kids should be current on their immunizations, eat a balanced diet and wash their hands regularly.

“Children with a fever should be kept home from school, and then it’s important to hydrate and fight fevers with the anti-fever medications,” he noted.

It gets tricky when children do not have severe symptoms.

Earlier this year, the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital National Poll on Children’s Health found in situations where it’s unclear whether their child is sick enough to miss school, 53% of parents of middle and high school children said they are most likely to keep their child home just to be safe, 25% would send their child to school and hope for the best and 19% would let their child decide. Only 4% said they would call the child’s healthcare provider for advice.

“What you really want to do as a parent is figure out, is this something real? Or is there kind of something in the background that’s swaying the kid one way or another?” said Sarah Clark, co-director of the poll.

“One in five parents saying that they would consider a mental health day, that’s kind of a big deal. I don’t think we would have seen that 10 years ago,” she noted.

Clark said if students have mental health days, their parents should use the time at home to help solve the problem.

“Anxiety about their academics, anxiety about their social life — use that mental health day to come up with a plan, to come up with some strategies to make things better,” Clark added.

The survey also found most parents consider if their child can make it through the day and pose a risk to others when deciding to keep their child home.

As many students are still trying to catch up after missing in-person school days during the COVID-19 pandemic, some parents do consider academics as they decide.

Two in three parents said they consider whether their child has a presentation or test when deciding whether to keep them home and that their child worries about the impact on their grades if they are absent from school.

“One of the other things that we sort of stress is if somebody’s going to sneeze or cough, to do it into their elbow, into their arm,” Ferrara added. “Wiping down chairs and desks with antiseptic wipes is also going to be good practice. Throwing away tissues into the trash, not leaving them on the desk.”

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Some campuses saw violent and destructive scenes last year, and the controversies over the response to the demonstrations led to the resignations of a handful of Ivy League presidents.

“Asking someone if they are Jewish and then punching them because of it. It’s not human at all. I don’t have words to describe how I feel about it,” Ohio State University student Adam Kling said of an incident last year.

California State University and the University of California now ban tent encampments and masks to conceal one’s identity.

UC’s president said in a letter that anything restricting movement on campus is prohibited.

“We make every effort to nurture free expression, and we provide countless opportunities and venues for our students, faculty, other academic appointees, and staff to safely and lawfully share their diverse viewpoints and beliefs. While the vast majority of protests held on our campuses are peaceful and nonviolent, some of the activities we saw this past year were not,” the letter noted.

The University of Pennsylvania will not allow overnight demonstrations and bullhorns after 5 p.m. on class days, and posters and banners must be removed within two weeks.

Indiana University requires approval of any signs displayed on university property.

“Indiana University has a longstanding commitment to advancing free speech. In order for free speech for all to flourish, we needed to clarify our policies so people clearly understand the allowable time, manner and place for free expression. We can’t let one person or group’s expression infringe on the rights of others, disrupt learning experiences for our students or interrupt regular university business,” Trustees Chair W. Quinn Buckner said.

“We are students at these colleges, at these universities, on these campuses, who are morally, morally disgusted that our university’s billion-dollar endowments are funding the genocide of the Palestinian people,” explained Jesse Estrada White, a senior at Michigan State University and member of the school’s Hurriya Coalition.

He led protests last year and says the new measures at college campuses across the country are unconstitutional.

“What they really are is a crackdown on our First Amendment rights,” he said.

Last month, Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine signed the bipartisan Enact Campus Act into law. It requires public and private universities to adopt and enforce policies regarding racial, religious and ethnic harassment. It will provide millions for student safety and outreach programs.

“This is going to apply to all groups. It says that universities must ensure that students are protected against race, ethnicity and religious-based discrimination — which covers Jewish students, Palestinian students and Muslim students,” said Zachary Marschall, the editor-in-chief of conservative college watchdog group Campus Reform.

Estrada White said student protests will continue this year.

Marschall suggests every school update and expand its anti-discrimination policies before the fall semester starts.

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Organizers across the U.S. are working to ensure their events do not lead to the spread of the virus.

Children under five, people over 65 years old, pregnant individuals, people with certain chronic medical conditions and more are at a higher risk of developing serious flu complications and should limit contact with animals that could carry influenza viruses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The CDC also has recommendations for fair exhibitors, including limiting the time pigs, poultry and cattle are on display to 72 hours or less.

The Allegan County Fair in Michigan, if there is an outbreak, has said they will have a virtual cattle show.

“If they’re here, everything is over and we’re doing great, and if they’re not here, then they’re safe either way. Nothing to worry about,” explained Saree Miller, the executive director of the fair.

Some fairs have banned milk cows altogether to prevent the spread.

In Michigan, lactating cows are not allowed at fairs until 60 days have passed since a reported positive case.

In Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota, lactating dairy cows are only allowed at fairs if they have proof of a negative flu test the week before, according to STAT.

“Use sanitizer. Don’t touch your eyes. Don’t touch your mouth. Just be smart,” explained Brian C. Castrucci, president and CEO of the de Beaumont Foundation. “Right when you go to the fair exhibit, make sure that you’re not bringing in any toys for kids or drinking glasses or anything that could carry infection, and if you do touch an animal, make sure that you are washing your hands and try to keep that to a very minimal kind of interaction with the animals.”

Castrucci, an award-winning epidemiologist with years of experience working in state and local health departments, says fairgoers do not need to be alarmed, just cautious.

“Remember, you can only have infection in the presence of disease. So if there is no disease, there can be no infection. So the real point here is to make sure that if an animal comes in that has bird flu or a variant of that, that we are making sure that we’re going to be really cautious, get that animal out of the exhibit, and for us, if we don’t know an animal is infected, we’re going to try to be as safe as we can.”

Last month, the U.S. government gave Moderna $176 million to develop their bird flu vaccine.The CDC maintains the threat to the general public is still low, but leaders want to be ready if it becomes a pandemic.

Since March, 13 reported human cases of bird flu have been documented in the U.S.

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