The Wall Street Journal recently asked a panel of business experts of salary prospects should drive students’ choices of degree programs.

While the obvious answer is “yes”, the panel avoids belittling any potential major.

Unlike President Obama.

In January, President Barack Obama inadvertently caused a bit of an uproar when he questioned the value of a degree in art history while he was talking about better aligning job-training programs with employer needs. Mr. Obama later sent a handwritten apology note to a University of Texas art historian who took offense at the remark.

Apologies aside, the question of what a student should major in and what sort of return on investment it can generate is becoming an increasingly important question, as families struggle to pay for school and graduates shoulder growing college debt. The Journal asked three experts to take part in a virtual roundtable and weigh in on the importance of selecting a major to making a living—and having a life.

Around our virtual table is Carol Geary Schneider, president of the Association of American Colleges and Universities; Anthony Carnevale, director of the Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce; and Jason Tyszko, senior director, policy, education and workforce, for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

MS. SCHNEIDER: I would advise a college-bound student not to assume that any specific major is the key to either career or life success.

…With all that said, every student also needs practical guidance in connecting their studies with career choices and in knowing the range of likely salaries for possible careers. It’s not so much choosing a major, as thinking through your possible career choices and pathways. Majors themselves are a small part of the college equation!

MR. TYSZKO: Students and families in today’s economy fully understand that accessing postsecondary education or training is critical to their economic future (historic levels of access attest to that), but failure to question and assess the value proposition of a college and major is no longer tenable for middle-class and low-income families…..

…MR. CARNEVALE: As the economic value of education increases, we will need to remember that education, especially higher education, is about more than dollars and cents. It should do more than provide foot soldiers for the American economy. Educators in both secondary and postsecondary institutions have cultural and political missions to ensure that there is an educated citizenry that can continue to defend and promote our democratic ideals. Moreover, educational institutions need to be preserved as safe havens free from both political and economic power.