What College Degrees are the Best for Success?

If you will be attending a Post-secondary Educational Institution, then planning is important to your upcoming decisions about how you will spend the rest of your life.

While lifelong learning is becoming the chant and the norm in the 21st century, it is not effective if it is applied to the position of "perennial student", one that stays in school by switching majors until one reaches the age of 40 and is asked to leave after taking every course in the catalogue.

Undertaking successful higher education takes effective assessment, guidance, and planning. One must determine which major one will pursue in community college, college, university,vocational school, technical school, career college, seminary, religious school, trades apprenticeship, certificate program, military academy, or Adult Education studies. There are still others. Given this menu, one can see that many choices exit.

Not only must one determine a course(s) to pursue, but also define one'e standards for success.

What is success to you, your family, your friends, your teachers, your classmates, the government, the business world, the general population, or anybody else? Do all of these named favorite virtues match? Probably not.

What do you consider success?

Read the following material:

• What Does Success Mean to You?
• What Can Money Buy? - Not Much.
• When the Meat Wagon Comes for You, lyrics written by Gary S. Paxton. They're hard to find as is the recording, but the lyrics deal with choices that one makes and how they affect one's life. Paxton is a comedian, writer and producer that handled Bobby "Boris" Pickett for The Monster Mash, one of my favorites.

The following jobs pay higher wages than many and can lead to fulfilling careers in a number of ways.

People with College Degrees make more moneythan those with high school diplomas, usually. Note an exception in Dave Thomas, who did not earn a GED until after he was a working adult and founding Wendys Hamburgers. There are millionaires that have little formal training or education. Just remember that as perspective; and, if everyone is getting PhDs, then the persons with a BA may become like the formerly disadvantaged high school dropouts - largely unemployable except for under the table or starting their own businesses...some illegal.

Five of the Highest-Demand Fastest-Growing Jobs in America

Master's and Bachelor's Degrees

• Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) - Some of the highest paying jobs on the planet, especially when considering Travel Nursing that pays transportation, bonuses and mortgage/rent!

America has about 3,000,000 working nurses and needs more, because even at that number, it's less than 1 per 100 people (think about possibly treating 100+ people in one week or 20+ per workday and nurses are also retiring, making the numbers harsher). Incentives are rampant: high salaries, benefits, two 12-hr weekend days to make a fulltime position, student loan forgiveness, signing bonuses, recuitment and referral bonuses, and much more.

A four-year BSN is one course to a license as a registered nurse. There are also two- and three-year Registered Nursing diplomas that result in the RN degree -- These are offered at colleges/nursing schools and universities. The differences between 2 and 3 year courses are based on the school and how many months per year one attends classes, etc.

The BSN degree earner is paid the highest wages and offered the widest range of career opportunities of all the nursing degrees. BSN is golden. The aging Boomer population will be immediately replaced by the Millennial Generation of the same size, offering potential for increasing incomes for nurses for 100 years, no matter what the economy. Nationalized Health Care may be the only factor that might reduce positions and wages in America.

• Master of Business Administration (the coveted MBA) - 2 years' study.

Many people are earning MBAs in the 21st century, hoping to get ahead and make big money. In fact:

1. MBA grads Earn an average of about 35% higher incomes above pre-MBA salaries. That is over a third more gross income (before taxes).
2. Not only that, but successful MBA earners often earn 71% more right out of the gate than if they had "only" a Bachelor's Degree (BS or BA).

The additional income earned through an MBA degree offsets the cost of tuition that is often high. The degree can be earned a classroom setting or online. Remember, though, that the more people that earn MBAs in America, the tougher will be the competition for relevant jobs in America. A lot may depend on what school you attend and what GPA you achieve, as well as the quality and subject of your Masters' Thesis or special research projects. People went on The Apprentice in order to have a greater advantage over the competition. (Note: I knew a professional pharmacist that paid to audit the entire curriculum of the MS in Preventive Medicine and then went back and paid for it a second time to earn credit so that he could have a better shot at a 4.0 GPA through practice.)

Some MBA student continue to work full-time while earning this degree. Some employers will offer to allow the MBA candidate to work online toward the degree for a block of time weekly at work without penalty. Some MBA-ers work part-time and take out student loans. Be careful of interest accumulation after graduation; pay loans off as quickly as possible.

• Bachelor of Science in Engineering(BS Engr or BSE) - 4 to 5 years.

The degree offers potential for some of the highest salaries in America.

The US DOL publishes that these graduates can immediately earn $50,000 upon graduation. Oil/Natural Gas/Petroleum engineers in 2007 earned the median salary of over $60,000. Chemical engineers were the next highest earners among BSEs. Median salaries can reach $100,000 per year, meaning that there are some that are much higher.

Engineering is booming in the Medical and Healthcare fields in the 21st century, in construction, and in defense as well as in other fields such as space exploration and living. The latter will become even more important as it is further privatized.

• Associate Degree (AA) as a Paralegal Professional

Paralegals are often assistants to attorneys and many go further the law careers themselves. Some law firms help paralegals pay for their JD degrees as well, so that is something to consider.

I have done numerous resumes for paralegal professionals and have been immensely impressed with their responsibilities and skills. They have been crack researchers and quite talented at preparing legal documents of many types.

The average salary for a paralegal with some experience is over $65,000 and that is with just two years of schooling, which costs must less than one year of this salary.

• Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Information Technology (IT)

IT jobs and careers are not limited to companies like Microsoft where everything is IT-related. IT Techs are needed in almost all industries in the 21st century and particularly insurance and financial products, the sciences, governments, medical facilities, community based organizations (CBOs) and many others.

This AAS-IT degree provides the basic foundation skills in computer building and repair, database, network, and systems administration; programming, web design and several other components. Once at work, the IT Tech may find that the company will pay for additional training toward a BS degree or above in Information Technology. A Tech averages $62,000 annual salary and their managers average over $83,000 per year.