What Are the Most Unusual College Degrees 

Securing a college degree helps build career satisfaction, gain job stability, achieve long-term financial goals, and become successful in and outside the workplace. A college degree does not guarantee all of these, but it can help you get there. Developing your leadership skills, creating sound decisions under pressure, and resource management – skills you may not have learned inside the classroom are a few of the essential factors that help you succeed after college.

However, for some students, their dream degrees that will prepare them for their adult careers can be quite unusual and unique compared to most of the student population. Some of these degrees are so strange, and you might not have heard of them at all. Here is a shortlist of the unusual college degrees that are interestingly high demand and offer its graduates immense opportunities.

Digital Mapping

Today, digital maps are more essential than ever. Google alone spends millions of dollars in technology, personal and other resources to keep their digital charting of the Earth updated. Homeland Security relies on digital mapping to create locale threats and to create patterns essential for national security. The discipline also transcends other studies such as geography, computer science, and other fields focused on organizing our world.

Digital mapping brings the ancient and futuristic way of creating maps by exposing students to traditional cartography, coding, open-source software, and spatial analysis. An entry-level digital mapper earns an average of $60,000 and can go as high as $97,709.

Packaging Science

Packaging plays a significant role in our lives but is considered one of the least celebrated professions. Packaging design and engineering are essential in retail and play a very significant role in making shipping, storage, and other aspects of the supply chain efficient, cost-effective, and safe. Packaging is everywhere. Raw materials, produce, groceries, essential items, and almost every possible item you can think of requires packaging. Packaging Science is one of the new frontiers related to design and engineering, and business education.

Packaging Science combines principles in biology, chemistry, physics, and graphic design of packing things. Clemson University in South Carolina is one of the pioneers for the program and has been offering the course for more than two decades. A Packaging Engineer earns anywhere between $75,584 to $85,962 a year.

Psychometrics

Although usually unheard of, psychometrics plays a significant role in tests like the SATs and the GREs. It is a systematic discipline that focuses on studying psychological factors – personal traits, emotional intelligence, IQ, and skills, in a statistical approach. Most Psychometric experts work for the education sector, the government, and private industries. They use their research, management, and policy creation skills through insights gathered from measured and well-interpreted surveys and tests from a pool of identified and controlled populations. Graduates of the course can enter different industries, including social work, health science professions, and education.

Boston College’s MS in Psychometrics combines technical and statistical aspects of psychometrics, including designing measurement tools and face-to-face research work. It is one of the most exciting fields to explore in the United States. The annual median salary of a Psychometrician in the United States is around $82,825.

Fermentation Sciences

Fermenting wine and brewing beer is a profession and is not limited to wine viticulturists, vineyard owners, and vintners. It is a systematic and full course that can be attended in college. Fermentation Sciences is not limited to winemaking and beer making alone.  Other products and processes covered in this program include kimchi, yogurt, pickles, kombucha, sauerkraut, and many more. Healthy, economical, and efficient fermentation processes and understanding how the body reacts to these products summarize what to look forward to in this promising career path.

One of the most respected Fermentation Sciences programs in the United States is in North Carolina at Appalachian State University. It offers one of the most industry-ready programs in the country. Fermentation Science careers are very lucrative. A fermentation scientist can earn anywhere from $100,581 to $229,000 annually.

A lucrative and promising career after college is not always with the traditional occupation. With a massive number of students graduating from college annually, offering something different makes you stand out and have a better chance of being among the top professionals in your unique and unusual field of expertise. Go for your passion, be different, and create a name in the least competitive but high-paying industry.