Five Ways the Degree You Choose is Your Key to Success

Earning a degree beyond high school opens the door to success in life. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that 18 of the 30 fastest growing careers in the country require post-secondary education.

Transitioning to Another Career

Whatever field you plan to pursue, the choice of degree will have an inevitable impact on your future career life. Obtaining an associates degree, for example, may limit the career options you will have. At some point in the middle of your career, another path may come calling. After earning a Bachelor’s degree in any given field, another advanced degree in another is within reach.

Critical Thinking Skills

Certain degree programs prepare you for life more than others. Degrees based in the STEM disciplines, namely science, technology, engineering, and math, teach skills beyond career readiness. Beyond grades and test scores, higher skills predict better economic outcomes.

Degrees in the STEM fields by design teach problem solving and critical thinking skills. Employees with these skills are often seen as innovators, high performers, and leaders.
The benefits of learning to solve problems extends beyond work and into life in general.

Better Salaries from the Start

The level of education you complete directly affects your earning potential. The U.S. Census Bureau compiled the average lifetime earnings for various levels of education. High school graduates can expect to earn $1.2 million over their lifetime. Acquiring an associate’s degree raises that lifetime average to $1.6 million. However, a Bachelor’s degree raises that average earning potential to $2.1 million.

The field of study affects earning potential, too. A Bachelor’s degree in a STEM field means higher wages. Undergraduates may find higher than average starting salaries in government, statistics, and economics fields. Current demand for business professionals in these fields is high.

Alternately, undergraduate degrees in fields such as English, Art history, or anthropology bring lower starting wages. Higher wages usually require an advanced degree. An advanced degree requires more schooling and more of an investment in your education.

Investment

There is always the question of how much higher education will cost, and how far into a particular field a student will still be saddled with student loan debt. The choice of a degree may bring opportunities to pay down student debt.

The Public Loan Forgiveness Plan, for example, offers student loan reduction in exchange for a period of time working in the public sector. This program may help those with degrees in social work, law, or in the medical field. Other student loan assistance programs for those in the education field.

Life Experience

Certain degrees open up opportunities for enrichment beyond the classroom. Degree programs with study abroad programs, for example, many life-enriching experiences you will find nowhere else. Conversely, online degree programs allow working adults to achieve a higher education without permanently altering your life.

The choice to attend college after high school is one of the most life altering decisions you will make in your life. More than any other time in history attending college is one of the biggest investments in terms of time and money. The choice of a major has an impact far beyond the college years.