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Friday 24 October 2014

5 Ways to Pick the Right College Major

To be an English major or not to be? That is the question that plagues thousands of newly minted college students each year, who have nightmares of walking off the stage at graduation directly into an unemployment line. But students who don't follow their hearts by delving into subjects they're most passionate about will ultimately hurt their chances of a successful—and satisfying—career in the long term, college officials say.

College can be a sizeable investment: The average student loan debt for students who attend private universities is nearly $30,000, according to the Project on Student Debt. Still, picking a major simply to secure a job that enables a student to pay off that debt as quickly as possible isn't the right approach, college advisers agree.

"It's an artful balance of synthesizing interests, skills, and personality strengths while acquiring experience outside of the classroom—in the first four semesters, if possible—that will lead to a more informed major choice," says Darin Ford, director of the Hegi Family Career Development Center at Southern Methodist University.

Use these five tips to decide when, and how, to choose the major that will be best for you:

1. Wait until college: With near-record levels of unemployment weighing on students' minds, an increasing number are starting to worry about their professional lives before they've even set foot in a college class, experts say. But students shouldn't let this pressure affect their decision making. Instead, students should give themselves ample time to try a diverse set of classes in their first year or two of school before deciding what field of study most appeals to them, says Christine Richardson, director of career services at Cazenovia College.

Brad Williams, dean of student affairs at Nova Southeastern University notes that "an amazing number of students feel pressure to select an academic major early. Name … one 18 year-old that can say, 'For the rest of my life, I want to do this.'"

2. But don't wait too long: While college officials tend to agree that students should wait before they make a decision that has the potential to affect the rest of their scholastic and professional lives, they shouldn't wait too long—unless they've got a sturdy trust fund. "If it takes until your junior year to find your niche and you really love what you're majoring in, then it might not be a terrible thing," says Katharine Brooks, director of liberal arts career services at the University of Texas—Austin. "Keep an eye on the money though—college is expensive and you don't want to waste too much time."

3. Curiosity won't kill you: Students and parents alike should pepper their college with questions about individual majors, says Andy Chan, vice president of career development at Wake Forest University. See if the school offers any assessment tools that help you find a major that suits you, and speak with officials in the career services offices and the departments themselves to learn as much as you can about the major before you commit, he says.

4. Make sure it's your passion: After students have had time as high school seniors and college underclassmen to explore various fields of study, it's likely that they've found one that greatly appeals to them. Follow that path, experts say, even if you're unsure about where it might lead, and what starting salary it might yield. Those factors won't matter in the long run, advisers say.

"The tough idea for students today to grasp is that they can choose to study something that they are passionate about, an academic area that they love, without knowing what vocational path that might lead to," says Carmen Varejcka-McGee, an academic adviser at the University of Nebraska—Lincoln. "Many students get stuck on the idea that they have to have a clear vocational goal in order to choose a major."

5. Be aware of the exceptions to these rules: Students who wish to attend medical school will need to make that decision as early as possible, says Matt Sanchez, assistant director of recruiting at the University of Texas—Dallas. That's long been the case, and new additions to the MCAT will only exacerbate the need to plan out premed classes well in advance.

Original Source of Article...

Thursday 23 October 2014

How Employers View Your Online Bachelor's Degree

When Erik Schnackenberg, 28, decided to get his bachelor’s degree at Pace University several years ago, he was confident about his decision to take courses entirely online.

If anything was going to get in the way of his job prospects, he figured it would be the lack of a master’s degree – not his choice to pursue distance education.

“I’ve interviewed several places and no one has asked me if I’m going on-campus for classes,” says Schnackenberg, a train conductor instructor and full-time student. “I think they care more about my major and my GPA.”

Schnackenberg might be onto something. The number of job candidates with online bachelor’s degrees has rapidly increased in recent years, recruiters say. At the same time, acceptance of the degrees by employers is becoming more common.

[Find out if online learning is right for you.]

That hasn’t always been the case, though.

Only a few years ago, in 2009, a literature review by Cleveland State University found that human resource managers, executives and other gatekeepers had negative perceptions of online degrees. Some recruiters blame the stigma on the last decade’s "diploma mills" – online, unaccredited programs known for offering a degree to anyone with a full wallet.

But these days, employers rarely question the quality of online programs, says Susan Fontana, regional vice president of Manpower, a global recruiting firm.

“Things have changed,” says Fontana, whose company works with Fortune 100 companies and small and midsize businesses. “I think 10 years ago, you probably had a little more questioning, but it really is so much more accepted today.”

In fact, sometimes an online bachelor’s degree can be an advantage in the eye of an employer, Fontana says. In some cases, entrepreneurs favor students such as Schnackenberg, who have juggled multiple commitments while earning their degree.

“When you think about balancing a job and the needs of a family with school, that says a lot about the discipline of a person,” Fontana says.

There are several reasons why online bachelor’s degrees are increasingly becoming accepted, including the sheer number of students taking online courses, experts say. About 7.1 million students took at least one online course during the fall of 2012, according to the most recent findings from the Babson Survey Research Group.

[Determine whether your learning style suits online education.]

Chris Cullen, a brand consultant for colleges and universities, says the perception of online degrees has also changed as top-ranked schools have started offering more distance education options and massive open online courses, known as MOOCs.

“In the past couple of years schools like MIT, Stanford, Duke and Johns Hopkins have joined the online education landscape,” says Cullen, managing director at Infinia DC. "It elevates the concept of online higher ed. Just by their participation the category is lifted."

Despite the evolution of online education, some employers are still wary of online degrees, recruiters say.

Mary Massad, division president of recruiting services for Insperity, a firm that provides recruiting services to more than 100,000 small and midsize businesses, says her clients have a variety of opinions on the degrees.

About 75 percent of her clients have embraced online credentials. As for the other 25 percent, she doesn’t count on changing their minds.

“There are people who are very resistant and very traditional in the way they perceive an online degree,” she says. “For some, it’s just deeply embedded in how they think.”

Although having an online bachelor’s degree isn’t a deal breaker for most of her clients, Massad says having an online degree from an unaccredited school is a sure way to get a resume discarded. Before you enroll in a program, make sure it is accredited, she says.

“You can go into this with eyes wide open – and you should,” she says.

[Discover whether your online program is accredited.]

Cullen, of Infinia DC, says some employers favor traditional bachelor’s degrees simply because they are more familiar.

To avoid having an online degree discounted, he recommends enrolling in a program that has brand recognition in the relevant field.

“In time, a person’s experience will outweigh their education on their resume,” he says. “But all things being equal, an employer will judge your education based on their own personal familiarity with the institution that provided the degree.”

Original Source of Article....

Wednesday 22 October 2014

Benefits of College Degree in Recession Are Outlined

 

 Young adults have long faced a rough job market, but in the last recession and its aftermath, college graduates did not lose nearly as much ground as their less-educated peers, according to a new study.

The study, published on Wednesday by the Pew Charitable Trusts, shows that among Americans age 21 to 24, the drop in employment and income was much steeper among people who lacked a college degree.

The findings come as many published articles and books have told the stories of young college graduates unable to find work, and questioned the conventional wisdom that a college education is a worthwhile investment and the key to opportunity and social mobility. The study did not take into account the cost of going to college.

 “This shows that any amount of post-secondary education does improve the labor market outcomes for those recent graduates,” said Diana Elliott, the research manager for Pew’s Economic Mobility Project. “This is not necessarily to discredit those individual stories.”

In fact, the study documents a serious decline in the job picture for young people.

Using data from the Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey, Pew looked at employment, either full time or part time, among 21- to 24-year-olds, in the roughly two and a half years before the 2007-2009 recession, during it, and in the two and a half years after it.

Among those whose highest degree was a high school diploma, only 55 percent had jobs even before the downturn, and that fell to 47 percent after it. For young people with an associate’s degree, the employment rate fell from 64 percent to 57 percent.

But those with a bachelor’s degree started off in the strongest position and weathered the downturn best, with employment slipping from 69 percent to 65 percent. (The federal Bureau of Labor Statistics recorded a similar decline, about four percentage points, among all people over 20, at any education level.)

Similarly, in all three groups of young adults, wages fell for those who had work, but the decline was spread unevenly.

People with four-year college degrees saw a 5 percent drop in wages, compared with a 12 percent decrease for their peers with associate’s degrees, and a 10 percent decline for high school graduates.

One surprise in the data, Ms. Elliott said, had to do with “the prevailing speculation that people who couldn’t find work were returning to school, enhancing their training.” In fact, college enrollment over all rose sharply for several years, driven primarily by older students, before leveling off in 2011.

But Pew’s study found that among people age 21 to 24, the rate of college enrollment actually declined slightly, during and after the recession. 

Original Source of Article....


Tuesday 21 October 2014

Community colleges eager to offer bachelor's degree

Riverside Community College District wants to expand one of its two-year programs into a four-year program if a bill becomes state law.

Administrators are trying to choose one of four career programs to expand into a bachelor’s degree program. The choices are: registered nursing at Riverside City College, the physician’s assistant and dental hygiene programs at Moreno Valley College and the video gaming program at Norco College, said Robin Steinback, interim vice chancellor for educational services, workforce development and planning,

The Legislature passed a bill to authorize up to 15 community college districts to award bachelor’s degrees in limited circumstances as a pilot program.

“We definitely want to be considered as one of the 15 pilots,” Steinback said.

On Friday, Senate Bill 850 was awaiting Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature. California would join 21 states that allow community colleges to confer four-year degrees.

Each district could offer one bachelor’s degree program, she said. The programs could begin as soon as January and would have to start by 2017. Supporters say the effort would address a statewide shortage of adults with bachelor’s degrees in the workforce.

Community colleges would not be able to offer degrees that Cal State or UC campuses already have. However, the law would allow community colleges to offer bachelor’s degrees in fields where Cal State or UC cannot accommodate demand for a program, the California Community Colleges chancellor’s office said in a news release.

Community colleges don’t yet know all the criteria for them to add four-year programs, Steinback said; however, the district has begun its review and will work with UC Riverside, Cal State San Bernardino and other Cal State campuses.

San Bernardino Valley College has no immediate plans to join the pilot program, said college spokesman Gregory Zerovnik, citing insufficient funding, faculty and support staff, which were all lost during the state budget crisis.

“Now the funding spigot is being very, very slowly turned back on,” he said.

Mt. San Jacinto College officials could not be reached Friday.

Zerovnik said the college’s two-year nursing program wouldn’t be considered for the state’s pilot because Cal State and UC campuses all offer four-year nursing degrees.

However, Steinback said the expectation is growing for registered nurses to have bachelor’s degrees, the state and region don’t have enough nurses, and RCC’s registered nursing program is first-rate.

“There is a nursing shortage,” she said. “If we have unmet workforce need whether it’s statewide or in our region, the argument could be made that we should offer that,” Steinback said.

RCC, Norco College and Moreno Valley College were just re-accredited. As part of the accreditation review, the colleges realized they have enough faculty with doctoral degrees and expertise to teach upper level courses, equipment, technology and facilities to expand any of the four programs being considered, she said.

Original Source of Article...

Monday 20 October 2014

Not All Good Jobs Require a Bachelor's Degree

There is life without college! According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the new millennium approximately 75 percent of the jobs in the workplace will not require a bachelor's degree. In fact, one of the fastest-growing segments of the workplace will be high-wage, high-skill technical jobs that require from one to three years of training or education. According to Workforce 2020, published by the Hudson Institute.

In the early 21st century...a larger share of fast growing occupations also will require education beyond high school, but not necessarily a four-year college degree.
It is not my intent to discourage students from pursuing the career of their choice, whether it involves college or not, but it is important for students to know that they don't have to settle for second-rate, low-paying jobs if they do not get a bachelor's degree. It is clear that it is a new day in the workplace and opportunities abound for students who seek out programs that offer them the training and skills necessary to succeed.
Many jobs in the health care and the computer fields require less than a four-year education. Listed below are 25 jobs that have high skill requirements and good earning potential.

  • Aircraft mechanic
  • Automotive service technician
  • Computer repairman
  • Construction manager
  • Data processing equipment repairman
  • Dental assistant
  • Dental hygienist
  • Desktop publishing specialist
  • Electronics repairman, commercial and industrial equipment
  • Hairdresser/hair stylist
  • Human services worker
  • Licensed practical nurse
  • Medical record technician
  • Occupational therapy assistant
  • Paralegal
  • Physical and corrective therapy assistant and aide
  • Physician's assistant
  • Private detective and investigator
  • Real estate sales agent
  • Registered nurse
  • Secretary-legal
  • Security consultant and technician
  • Surgical technologist
  • Truck driver
  • Welder

This list is a compilation taken from several "top job" lists including the occupational information published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It accurately reflects a growing need in several industries including the health care, computer, and technical fields.

The training necessary for many of these jobs can be obtained through on-the-job training, certificate programs, apprenticeship programs, or an associate degree. In order to advance, however, continual training is usually necessary. For example, someone with basic business training and word processing skills could be hired right out of high school as a secretary. In order to improve their salary level and achieve greater success however, additional training is necessary. The Certified Professional Secretary rating is increasingly recognized in business and industry as a consideration to promotion as a senior level secretary. Specializing in certain fields such as medicine or law can also enhance a secretarial career.

Computers now play an important role in the workplace. Training for all occupations should include some development of computer skill, which is one of the top ten skills in demand by employers. Computers are used in almost every field, including the computers automotive service technicians use to diagnose performance on cars, those used by travel agents to help customers plan and book their vacation itineraries, the computers secretaries use to organize and communicate information, and the computer-related technology that allows radiologic technicians to properly image and analyze the human body.

In this series of articles I have shared some thoughts with you on career planning and exploration. All workers want a personally satisfying and rewarding career. This goal is not always attained. Good decisions can only be made through good information. Students need good information about themselves, good information about occupational opportunities, and good information about training and educational programs. Knowing where they are, where they want to be, and how they will get there will put them on a solid career track. By knowing themselves and how their skills and interests realistically relate to the world of work, students can find a career that will serve them well.

Original Source of Article....