College Courses.com Education & Career Blog

I think I may have overstepped my bounds a bit in recent posts. Based on the latest employment situation reports, as well as my best judgment, I more or less dismissed the idea of manufacturing as a viable career. For explicit proof, see the following excerpt taken from my post on the payroll numbers from January:

So, what advice is there to gain from January’s BLS report? First, steer clear of jobs in the goods-producing sector in the upcoming year — or at least anything related to non-essential goods. Service is a stronger alternative, as health care continues to prove its resiliency.

While my advice regarding the health care industry was well-founded, I’ll admit that I was quick to discount the opportunities available in various goods-producing sectors. In my overview of February’s employment situation report, I stated that the strength of the economy lies in the service industries right now. This is a better way of phrasing our current situation. Because even though the goods-producing industries as whole lost nearly 90,000 jobs last month, that’s only a small fraction of the entire employment picture (think 0.006 percent of the U.S. civilian labor force). And a loss like that impacts the perception of our country’s economy a whole lot more than the fate of individual workers.

That being said, the manufacturing industry is in a recession. The sector has dropped close to three million jobs since 2001, and more than 80,000 manufacturing positions have been lost in the first two months of 2008 alone. But a detail that’s easily overlooked, or at least one that was missed by yours truly, is that not all manufacturing professions are suffering. In actuality, manufacturing jobs requiring a mix of advanced skills in areas such as math, science, and technology have grown by 37 percent; and 80 percent of U.S. manufacturers report a lack of qualified job applicants to choose from. In a way, it’s like a job shortage hidden within a recession. And you wonder why some people have given up on trying to analyze the country’s job market…

Because of the scarcity of skilled professionals pursuing careers in manufacturing, and the negative, outdated stereotypes surrounding the industry, The National Association of Manufacturers recently teamed up with several national partners to launch the Dream It. Do It. campaign. The campaign was initially introduced in Kansas City, and the purpose behind it is to educate young adults about the unconventional, lesser known careers in manufacturing worth pursuing. Following the success of Dream It. Do It. in Kansas City, the movement has since spread to several other regions within the U.S. The advertising campaign has also begun circulating around YouTube, Facebook, and MySpace.

A few of the dream jobs featured on the Dream It. Do It. website include bioprocess supervisors, electronics engineering technicians, food science technicians, mechanical engineers, and robotics technicians. Food science technicians are responsible for testing consumer food products and creating nutrition labels, and they make close to $50,000 a year with a bachelor’s degree. Bioprocess supervisors oversee the creation of products like pharmaceuticals and pesticides, while robotics technicians design everything from remote-controlled bulldozers to robotic appendages. You can view all of the profiled manufacturing careers here. The education required for each profession ranges from a high school diploma with an apprenticeship to a Ph.D., and the salaries fluctuate in about the same way. Be sure to browse through all the career profiles to gain a better sense of contemporary manufacturing, and to rid yourself of the visions of assembly line workers dancing through your head.

In all honesty, I was shocked and excited to begin my morning with information that is so contradictory to everything that we’re reading today about the U.S. economy and its weaker industries. If you are willing to get the necessary training and education, and research your preferred industry extensively, you can most likely find worthwhile employment opportunities in any sector. And I know that makes me (and hopefully you) feel a little more at ease about a few pitiful BLS reports.

So I was searching for a relevant topic to post about today, preferably one that related to college and the new year that is fast approaching, and I stumbled upon this press release from Sallie Mae. There is some obvious promotion and product suggestions laced throughout it, but overall, I found the piece to be surprisingly informative and, well, appropriate for the CollegeCourses.com Education & Career Blog.

It’s all about nontraditional students, or rather, the group of people gradually becoming the majority within the college student population. According to the National Center for Education Statistics, 2.4 million men and women aged 25 and older were enrolled in degree-granting institutions throughout the U.S. in 1970. In 2000, these “nontraditional” students were 6 million strong in the country’s schools. By 2012, the number of enrolled college students over the age of 25 is expected to approach 7 million. This means that within four years, nontraditional learners could actually outnumber “traditional” students under the age of 25. Who’s nontraditional now?

In order to appeal to this growing demographic segment (with regard to higher education), colleges and universities are creating programs that cater to the needs and the responsibilities of students over the age of 25. For instance, most schools are expanding their online, night, and weekend class offerings; while others are providing on-site child care, introducing life experience credit offerings, and organizing study groups and carpooling services for their adult students.

The press release goes on to discuss how to finance your higher education, courtesy of Sallie Mae. This obviously isn’t a site devoted to college scholarships and loans, but the strategy that the press release suggests is sensible (or obvious, depending upon your knowledge of finance). First seek out financial aid that doesn’t need to be repaid (e.g., scholarships and grants), followed by federal student loans with forgiving interest rates, and lastly, use private student loans as a final payment option. Another suggestion for working professionals, which is a personal favorite of mine, is to speak with your employer about any reimbursement that you can receive to help with your education costs. Companies want qualified employees, and earning an advanced degree is certainly one way gain that status. Some employers will finance an entire degree program.

You may already be aware of the things I’ve mentioned above. But I figure that it’s never a bad idea to remind everyone of this simple fact: a postsecondary education is waiting for you whenever you are ready and willing to take advantage of it. New Year’s resolutions will be made in two weeks, and broken in about three or four, but if you are ready to make a serious change in your professional life, it’s never too early to start doing some research.

Here is an excerpt that I found particularly fitting from the press release:

“There are a myriad of reasons for the rise in nontraditional students. Some are first timers, attending college at a later-than-average stage in life; others are returning to the classroom to improve their skills set and thereby their earnings potential in the workplace. Still others are retirees, using their newfound free time to prepare for a new business venture or simply to take advantage of lifelong learning.”

What are your reasons for wanting to continue your education?

For those of you who are reluctant to admit that online degrees are maybe, just maybe, as useful and as valuable as the degrees that students earn in actual classrooms, humor me and read this. It seems as though a lot of people are loving distance learning these days, and honestly, what’s not to love? It’s accommodating, it’s convenient, and it’s a necessary alternative for busy, budget-conscious adults who want a professional degree.

The article I linked to above is from the online edition of the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, so it includes specific references to colleges and universities based in the New York area. Aside from that, this article is relevant to all potential online learners.

Some of the primary statistics cited in the article are from the Sloan Consortium, which is an online education advocacy group. According to a report from the organization, 3.5 million students in the U.S. were enrolled in at least one online course in the fall of 2006. Based on these numbers, the country’s participation in distance learning has more than doubled since 2002. The Sloan Consortium’s CIO, Jeff Seaman, explains that whereas online education was still being proven as a valid learning method a few years back, it is now just another reliable tool that colleges and universities use to educate and assist their students.

The Sloan Consortium also found that two-year schools have the highest growth rate among online institutions, already accounting for more than half of all online enrollments in the nation. For the most part, distance learners are undergraduate students, while schools with more than 7,500 students account for 63 percent of all online enrollments. Despite these majority numbers, smaller schools continue to gain strength in this industry, and online master’s and doctorate degrees are offered in hundreds of fields.

The availability of degrees over the internet and the number of students who opt to learn this way are both expected to trend up in the future. With more and more children being exposed to online resources and virtual learning at an earlier age, experts predict that the newer generations of students are going to expect to be taught in non-traditional ways.

What’s more is the fact that employers are reacting differently towards online degrees than they were a few years back. According to the Boston-based education consulting firm Eduventures, 62 percent of the 500 employers it recently surveyed considered online learning to be equal to or better than face-to-face instruction. With the quality of online education improving dramatically over the past decade, companies are now encouraging their workers to earn a degree over the internet. Many employers view distance learning as a way for employees to work a normal schedule and better their skills at the same time, and some organizations are even collaborating with local schools to create online programs specifically geared towards their employees.

Overall, the Democrat and Chronicle’s article says only good things about online learning. We all know that there are some cons to bypassing the campus experience, but for those students pressed for time, an online degree is the easiest (and probably the smartest) solution to their dilemma. It is beneficial to do a little research in your field before you commit to a specific program, as some online institutions are better for certain professions than others. Collegecourses.com links to a variety of online schools with hundreds of degree programs, so if you want to learn about what’s out there in terms of online education, be sure to request more information from a few of these colleges.

The results from a national survey that was released last week suggest that students who participate in “high-impact” activities while in college experience greater success when thinking critically, solving real-world problems, and working cooperatively with others. According to the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE), high impact activities include undergraduate research, involvement in learning communities, studying abroad, and the completion of internships and capstone projects.

This is the eighth year that the NSSE has been conducted, and its purpose is to provide colleges with broad insight into how to improve undergraduate education. The 2007 report was based on information from 323,000 randomly selected first-year and senior students at over 600 colleges and universities in the U.S. and Canada. This year’s NSSE study is titled “Experiences that Matter: Enhancing Student Learning and Success.”

Other significant findings from the report are as follows:

Students who frequently talk with their parents and take their advice report being more satisfied with their college experience.

Students who meet with an advisor at least twice a year are more engaged and gain more from their classes.

The majority of students say that they feel more satisfied and benefit more when faculty members provide guidance and feedback on projects and papers.

Students who study abroad report greater gains in intellectual and personal development than students who do not.

An internship or some type of field placement is the most powerful form of a culminating senior experience. Only 29 percent of seniors at public institutions participate in a culminating senior experience, compared with 42 percent of their private college and university peers.

I thought it would be beneficial to post this information because it applies to anyone who is currently attending college or who plans to in the future. If you want to gain more from your education, it is your responsibility to become involved in your school’s community and the direction that your studies are taking. This could be as simple as arranging a meeting with your advisor (approximately 10 percent of students never even do that).

The NSSE was created to help students and educators understand everything that contributes to a successful college experience. The survey moves away from the traditional rankings that place Ivy League schools on a pedestal and measures more abstract areas of performance like collaborative learning, student and faculty interaction, and how supportive a campus environment is.

This NSSE study provides valuable advice to all college students, including those who are earning their degrees online. Some students assume that receiving an online education will limit the high-impact activities that they can participate in. Over the past few years, online schools have made tremendous progress, and many now arrange internships for students, help outline capstone projects, and have complex support and student resource systems in place. The University of Phoenix, AIU, and Westwood College Online are just a few of the online schools that offer students an educational experience comparable to the one found on traditional college campuses.

This past Monday, Florida Metropolitan University joined a bigger (and supposedly better) brand of colleges by ditching its old name in favor of a new one. FMU will now be known as Everest University, and this change will affect all ten of its Florida-based campuses, as well as its popular online school. The name change was initiated by FMU’s parent company, Corinthian Colleges, Inc., as part of a rebranding effort for the organization’s collection of career-focused colleges.

With the addition of FMU as another branch of the Everest brand, Corinthian Colleges now runs over 75 Everest campuses in the United States alone. The corporation also operates colleges in a handful of Canadian provinces. Other divisions of the brand include Everest College and Everest Institute. Everest College has 15 campuses just in California, with additional locations in Arizona, Colorado, Illinois, Washington, and several other U.S. states. Everest Institute operates out of Massachusetts, Georgia, New York, Texas, and a few other places.

Even though many students are accustomed to the the Florida Metropolitan name, representatives for FMU and Corinthian Colleges, Inc. are confident that this will be a positive change for the schools involved. Because Everest institutions span so much of North America, graduates from Everest University will open themselves up to many more career opportunities. By adding reputable FMU locations to the list of Everest schools, the brand will gain more national recognition as well.

The curricula that was in place at the school before the name change will not be affected, and FMU’s former site emphasizes this idea with the following statement: “We offer the same great instructors, staff and classes — just with a nationally recognized name.” Therefore, Everest University still offers programs in health care administration, accounting, homeland security, computer information science, business administration, medical assisting, criminal justice, paralegal studies, and various other in-demand disciplines.

Everest College Online will also continue to provide students with internet-accessible programs in accounting, business, and criminal justice.

Over the past few weeks, The Seattle Times has published two articles discussing our country’s aging workforce. According to these articles, baby boomers have the potential to change the face of retirement forever. Earlier this month, I wrote a post encouraging members of the baby boomer generation to extend their careers (if interested) and fight age bias by retraining for new jobs. Looks like someone is on top of things.

In the first installment of her two-part column, Liz Taylor describes how a “demographic tsunami” is about to hit the U.S. This cultural phenomenon will transform our current workforce and the way that citizens usually retire. 78 million baby boomers are now 43 to 61 years old, and the latter group is only a few years away from the traditional retirement age of 65. But with only 40 million members of Generation X ready to take the boomers’ positions, it is looking as though traditions may have to change.

With longer life expectancies and fewer savings, many baby boomers will have the ability (and the need) to work well into their 70s, and maybe even their 80s. Age bias is an issue now, but experts predict that this trend will die down, and employers will soon be looking to retain their older employees. Some organizations will have to adapt their standard 9-to-5 workdays and incorporate more part-time jobs, seasonal workers, phased retirement plans, and job-sharing.

Taylor’s second article, which was published today, offers a few tips for the revolutionary boomers. Even though the elimination of age bias sounds promising, the transition over the next few decades won’t be easy. Boomers will have to be open to change, as well as taking direction and management from younger co-workers. This generation of workers may also gravitate towards more meaningful work later in life. Instead of retiring, baby boomers are becoming social entrepreneurs by confronting cultural issues and working for non-profit organizations.

Toward the end of her second article, Taylor reiterates the fact that the road ahead for baby boomers will be difficult, explaining that “over the next decade or two, millions of us will transition to new chapters in our lives by recycling or changing what we’ve always done, or actually starting new careers.”

If you are a part of the baby boomer generation, and you want to prepare for the changes that are swiftly approaching, start researching the labor market now. No matter what field you are interested in, CollegeCourses.com features a variety of online and campus-based schools where you can supplement, enhance, and improve your current education.

If you are interested in a career in information technology, by now you’ve probably heard both sides of the ongoing debate.

The country’s IT employers are scrambling for more temporary work visas for foreign IT graduates, claiming that there’s a shortage of skilled domestic workers. U.S. tech workers are arguing the exact opposite — that there are plenty of available employees, just not enough good jobs. The nation’s IT workers believe that conglomerates are fabricating (or at least exaggerating) a worker shortage to keep wages for IT professionals down. The simple fact is that foreign employees will work for less.

It is difficult to confirm whether or not claims of an IT worker shortage are merely a political ploy to avoid hiring U.S. workers who’ll demand more money. But experts on both sides of the debate agree that something needs to change. The current system that’s in place allows IT companies to hire multiple foreign workers on a temporary basis with H-1B visas.

Earlier this year, several U.S. senators argued that some organizations were abusing this system to keep their own expenses down (and not to make the U.S. more competitive in the IT industry). Domestic workers are convinced that they are being turned down for jobs they’re qualified for because companies are looking to hire workers who’ll make less of a dent in their payrolls.

What’s more is that the pay for IT workers hasn’t increased since 2000. When adjusted for inflation, tech workers are actually making an average of $850 less per year than they were seven years ago. (Although the mean annual salary for computer workers still stands at $69,240.)

So while there’s proof that wages have stagnated in recent years, employers argue that the current unemployment rate among IT professionals in the U.S. (a low 1.8%) confirms that domestic workers are finding positions. Large organizations like Microsoft are also pointing to the 3,000 core technology jobs that they have to fill in the U.S. as evidence that the country needs to award more foreign work visas.

Aside from the relevant arguments that each side makes, there is one issue that make this IT debate even more confusing, and that’s the treatment of all IT specializations as one field. Some areas, such as software development, are generating multiple positions, while industries like computer programming are in a steep decline. (Programming jobs have dwindled 25% since 2000.)

So while you may not be able to resolve the debate between IT employers and the agitated tech workforce, you can increase your owns chances of securing a job in information technology. The IT areas with the most open positions in the U.S., as well as the most potential for growth, are as follows: software engineering, IT management (jobs up 50% since 2001), and network systems analysis.

Earn your degree in one the IT fields mentioned above, and you should be in a great position to find work upon graduation. Westwood College Online offers degrees in software engineering and computer network management, AIU focuses in network administration and computer systems, and University of Phoenix offers an MBA program in technology management.

The thought of baby boomers retiring has had economic analysts worried for years. Born between 1946 and 1964, the generation represents a good portion of the country’s population and an even larger portion of the American workforce. With the oldest baby boomers reaching retirement age in 2011, the U.S. has been gearing up for a major labor shortage for some time now. But is all this worrying premature? And has anyone ever thought to ask baby boomers whether they plan to retire once they hit 65?

AARP did, and a surprising 79 percent of those surveyed said that they planned to pursue some kind of work after the traditional retirement age of 65. The baby boomer generation wants the benefits and the income that working provides, and they also want to find interesting and fulfilling jobs where they can still learn something.

Some institutions, community colleges especially, are stepping in to prepare baby boomers for this transition. The American Association of Community Colleges (AACC) recently received a $3.2 million grant to develop a nationwide program to retrain adults 50 and over. Community colleges will initially compete to run their own programs, and 15 will be chosen to receive funding. Five of these schools will serve as mentor institutions for the rest of the country.

Enrolling in a program at a nearby community college is a convenient and affordable way to refresh your skills or gain expertise in a new profession. If you are part of the baby boomer generation and you need or want to work through your 50s and well into your 60s, you are not alone. Refresher courses are a great way to land part-time and volunteer positions as well.

If you don’t want to wait for community colleges to develop and debut their retiree training programs, online education is another alternative that you can look into. Many online schools cater to adult learners who want to transition into new professions mid-career. If an online degree appeals to you, University of Phoenix, AIU, and Florida Metropolitan University operate some of the most well-known distance learning programs in the nation. Earning a diploma, a certificate, or an associate’s degree is another step that you can take before re-entering the workforce.

No matter what you decide, community, technical, and online schools are your best resource for current and concise training programs. There is a lot of talk about age bias in the hiring process, but in the face of an employment crisis, companies won’t ignore qualified candidates with strong work records and relevant training.

National disasters like Hurricane Katrina and 9/11 have changed everything from our views on foreign policy to what degrees we pursue in college. As early back as 1994, only four universities in the U.S. offered programs in emergency management. Today, over one hundred American-based institutions have emergency management, homeland security, and terrorism prevention programs in place, with hundreds more planning to feature these emerging disciplines in the near future.

For those of you unaware of what emergency management entails, one director of homeland security in Kansas gave this humorous explanation of his profession: “My job is to tell you things you don’t want to hear, asking you to spend money you don’t have for something you don’t believe will ever happen.” Although the disasters that emergency managers plan for don’t always occur (e.g., floods and flu epidemics), the preventive measures they take have the potential to save thousands of lives.

Even though the field has been in existence for decades, emergency planning is now considered a formal career path, especially with the explosive growth of related degree programs over the past 15 years. The profession continues to evolve and become more specialized as the years go on, and the Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that emergency management positions will increase 28 percent between 2002 and 2012. Job openings will also increase with the impending retirement of veterans who are responsible for legitimizing the occupation.

If you already have a degree that would facilitate a career as an emergency management specialist, the International Association of Emergency Managers site (iaem.com) has a job board where open positions are posted regularly. Nowadays everyone is looking for emergency managers, from public agencies to volunteer organizations to large corporations like Wal-Mart. Pay within the field varies, but most county directors can expect to make between $60,000 and $100,000 a year.

You can begin earning your degree in emergency management by doing something as simple as contacting one of the schools listed on CollegeCourses.com. Kaplan University offers a certificate in terrorism and national security, while the School of Criminal Justice at Florida Metropolitan University features associate and bachelor degrees in homeland security. University of Phoenix also offers a Master of Administration in Justice & Security. For a full list of institutions that offer online and campus-based classes in emergency management, visit the FEMA site.

In honor of the back-to-school season, the U.S. Census Bureau released its latest “Facts for Feature” bulletin, which includes a range of statistics on everything from how much we spend on new clothes for the fall season to the average hourly wage for our nation’s school bus drivers.

Because the bureau reported on all levels of schooling, and there were a bunch of college-related facts scattered throughout the bulletin, I thought I would share the most interesting ones with all of you in this post…

For example, the report projects that 18 million students will enroll in U.S. colleges and universities this fall. Two decades ago, only 12.8 million enrolled.

In terms of adult students, 37 percent of all college participants in October of 2005 were 25 or older. Out of these students, over 50 percent attended school part time.

Women represented 56 percent of the total undergraduate population and 59 percent of the graduate school community toward the end of 2005.

Just two years ago, 4,276 institutions in our country granted college degrees.

In 2005, the average earnings of workers 18 and older with advanced degrees equaled $79,946 a year. Those with bachelor degrees earned an average of $54,689 annually. This is considerably more than the average annual wage of workers with only a high school diploma, which totaled $29,448. Workers with no diploma made an average of only $19,915 a year.

And lastly, during the 2007-08 school year, it has been predicted that 3 million college degrees will be conferred by colleges and universities throughout the country.

The last two groups of statistics should be of particular interest to anyone thinking about returning to college for an undergraduate or a graduate degree in the near future. Compared to high school graduates, those with advanced degrees make an average of $50,000 more per year. So even if you invest $200,000 in your college education, you could potentially break even and begin gaining interest on that investment in just four years! With 3 million degrees being awarded over the next school year, the competition for jobs among college grads is unlikely to diminish anytime soon.

If you are confused about where to begin your post-secondary education, take a look at a post from last month that discusses the 25 best salaries the U.S. has to offer. Afterwards, you can browse CollegeCourses.com for information and school listings that appeal to you.