The economy is definitely pushing people in the forward motion when it comes to going back to school. For students already enrolled in school, taking on a second major or another minor delays the inevitable graduation. Students take shelter in education as a means to protect themselves from an otherwise unforgiving job market–and prepare for the job market when it becomes a little better.
The problem with this is that students will be graduating en masse in a couple of years. An already flooded bachelor’s degree market will become a knee-deep trench, and master’s degrees will be the new high school diploma. How does a person interested in furthering their education protect themselves from this? Simple. Not every degree is created equal. The inquiring student needs to think smart and pick the degree that will still have high demand when the economic sun shines and graduates pour out of the college gates.
Degrees in health care are in right now because of the explosiveness of the health care industry. M.B.A. programs with specializations in health care or in an engineering field are a plus; and speaking of, a straight-up engineering degree is also successful. Taking these degrees online is ideal if you already hold a job so that you can continue furthering your career and pursue education at the same time. For those that are unemployed, online degree programs leave the window open to pursue employment, internships, or other obligations.
The problem with education sheltering these students, campus-based or online, is that it’s at the expense of accruing mounds of student loans. Students that are not lucky enough to attend distance learning programs through scholarships or other financial benefits that do not need to be paid back, like the Post 9/11 GI Bill, should always keep in mind that student loan : salary ratio is imperative to avoid scraping pennies for rent and food. The general consensus is that student loans should never get higher than what the graduate will make in a given year with the salary the degree is worth.
