大多数美国人表示，如果可以重来，他们会更改自己对大学、学位课程或研究领域的选择。
Gallup, an American research-based company, and the Strada Education Network reported in June that 51 percent of Americans regret one of their college education choices.
美国盖洛普调查公司和Strada教育网络6月份报道称，51%的美国人对自己的大学教育选择之一表示后悔。
The study also found that 36 percent of Americans said they would change their major if they could. Twenty-eight percent of Americans said they would choose a different college or university. And 12 percent said they would choose a different degree program.
该研究还发现，36%的美国人表示如果可以，他们会更改专业。28%的美国人表示他们会选择另一所高校。还有12%的美国人表示他们会选择一门不同的学位课程。
Precious A. Smith is the Deputy Director for the Center for Academic Excellence at Howard University. Smith does not want people to think that 51 percent of American college graduates are unhappy with what they are currently doing.
普雷舍丝·史密斯（Precious A. Smith）是霍华德大学学术卓越中心的副主任。史密斯不希望人们以为51%的美国大学毕业生对他们目前的工作感到不满意。
She says the students "might have just made different choices if they had different information at the time they were picking a major or picking an institution to graduate from."
她说，这些学生“在挑选专业或就读院校时如果获得了不同信息，他们可能就会做出不同选择。”
Students often end up choosing between a career that will make them happy and a career that will make a lot of money, she says. Many students therefore end up picking a major that they are not very satisfied with.
她说学生们通常最终会在自己喜欢的职业和赚大钱的职业之间做出选择。因此很多学生最终选择了他们不太满意的专业。
Beth Davis is a graduate of the University of Maryland. She says, "I went to college because everybody else was going to college."
贝丝·戴维斯(Beth Davis)毕业于马里兰大学。她说：“我去上大学，是因为别人都上大学。”
Davis says her degree in history and English has nothing to do with her current job. She never took a business class in college but she now runs a successful construction business. She believes that on the job training may be a better option for many people.
戴维斯表示，她的历史学位和英语学位跟她目前的工作毫无关联。她从未在大学里上过商务课程，但是她目前经营着一家成功的建筑企业。她认为在岗培训可能对很多人来说是更好的选择。
"The things that I am interested in, I always would have learned about anyway. I didn't need a college degree to do that," she says.
她说：“我感兴趣的事情，我总是无论如何都能掌握。实现这点并不需要一个大学学位。”
STEM and technical students have fewer regrets
STEM和技术专业的学生更少懊悔
The poll found that there were two groups of students that were more satisfied with their educational decisions. One included students who completed trade, technical or work-related study programs. And the other included students who specialized in science, technology, engineering or mathematics, an area known in American education as STEM.
调查发现有两类学生对自己的教育选择更为满意。其中一类包括读完贸易、技术或是与工作相关的研究课程的学生。另一类包括专门从事科学、技术、工程、和数学专业的学生。该领域在美国教育中被称之为STEM。
The poll also found that individuals with higher student loan debt are more likely to say they would change at least one educational decision.
调查还发现，学生贷款债务更高的个人更可能表示他们会更改至少一项教育决定。
Smith of Howard University says that some former students "probably didn't realize how much that loan debt was going to affect their current lifestyle."
霍华德大学的史密斯表示，一些毕业生“可能并未认识到学生贷款债务会在多大程度上影响到他们目前的生活。”
She advises students to be flexible with their career goals. She says students need to understand that "your career goal at the end of high school and your career goal at the end of college are going to look a little bit different."
她建议学生们灵活选择自己的职业目标。她说，学生们必须明白，“你在高中毕业时的职业目标和大学毕业时的职业目标将会有所不同。”
Ashley Riley is a developmental specialist at Early Intervention, a service that works with children who have developmental delays.
阿什莉·莱莉（Ashley Riley）是Early Intervention的一位发展师，这是一项帮助发育迟缓儿童的服务项目。
Riley wishes that she had more information about other majors and career options when she attended college.
莱莉多希望她大学时更多了解其它专业和职业选择。
Riley said it was her current job at Early Intervention that, in her words, "opened my eyes up to all of these other majors that I have never really been exposed to in my college career."
莱莉表示，这就是她目前在Early Intervention的工作，用她的话来说就是，“让我了解到我在大学生涯中从未真正接触到的所有其它专业。”
If she could go back to college again, Riley said she would have majored in occupational therapy or speech therapy instead of education and psychology.
莱莉表示，如果她能回到大学，她会主修职业疗法或言语矫正，而不是教育和心理学。
The poll also showed that a person's desire to change their educational decisions is related to the kind of college or university they attended.
这次调查还显示，一个人改变他们教育决策的意愿跟他们所上大学的类型有关。
About half of students at public or state universities, which receive government money, would change at least one of their educational decisions. The number is higher for private and for-profit schools.
公立或州立大学接受政府资助，大约一半这类大学的学生会改变至少一项教育决策，这一数字超过了私营和营利学校。
The research was part of a three-year study to help colleges and students complete education with a purpose.
这项研究是一项为期三年的帮助学生们有目的完成教育的研究的一部分。
The researchers collected information from June 29, 2016 through March 26, 2017. They spoke by telephone with over 89,000 people throughout the United States, including the District of Columbia.
研究人员从2016年6月29日到2017年3月26日收集信息。他们通过电话跟包括哥伦比亚特区在内的美国各地的8.9万人进行了交谈。
I'm Mario Ritter.
我是马里奥·里特。
And I'm Olivia Liu.
我是奥利维亚·刘。(51VOA.COM对本文翻译保留全部权利，未经授权请勿转载，违者必究！)