How often have you heard that a higher degree means you’re going to earn more money and have better chances of employment? And how often have you met people for whom this rule doesn’t work? Having paid for a bachelor’s degree and spent four years at school, they end up underemployed in jobs like retail or food service.
This article will give an insight into the problem. First, we’ll list the highest-paying jobs requiring NOT more than two years of schooling (according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics), and then we’ll show when specialization matters more than the degree.
Jobs requiring an associate’s degree
– nuclear medicine technologists: $76,820 per year (the growth rate for this job is faster than average)
– nuclear technicians: $79,140 per year
– funeral service managers: $75,580 per year
– radiation therapists: $82,330 per year (the growth rate is faster than average)
– air traffic controllers: $124,540 per year. While the wages are high, there’re several difficulties, including long-term on-the-job training, a comparatively little number of new vacancies, and a lot of responsibility.
Jobs requiring a high school diploma or equivalent
– postmasters and mail superintendents: $75,970 per year
– media and communication equipment workers: $79,580 per year
– elevator installers and repairers: $79,780
– detectives and criminal investigators: $81,780
– commercial pilots: $115,670
– nuclear power plant operators, distributors, and dispatchers: median annual wage: $83,020 per year- first-line supervisors of police and detectives: $89,030
– transportation, storage, and distribution managers: $94,730
While the job of a licensed practical nurse and licensed vocational nurse ($46,240 per year) requires a high school diploma, you’ll also need to graduate from an accredited LPN program including one year of coursework and practical application. We should point out that there’re also jobs in healthcare requiring less schooling. If you want to understand what requirements for medical workers are, you’ll have to learn what is a PCA, CNA, RN, LPN).
Postsecondary non-degree award
– first-line supervisors of firefighting and prevention workers: $76,330 per year
– electrical and electronics repairers: $57,890 per year
When does a high school diploma earn more than a bachelor’s degree?
On average, with each step in education, a person gets a better financial and employment perspective. And yet, “on average” doesn’t mean “always”! And yet, look at these facts from the website of the Association of Career and Technical Education:
– more than 30% of young people with an associate’s degree and 27,5% with a fast-to-attain industry-relevant license or certificate have a higher salary than those with a bachelor’s degree.
– if a person holds an associate’s degrees or other credentials that don’t require much schooling but are vital for specific careers, she earns an average of $4,000 to $19,000 more (annually) than people with associate’s degrees in the humanities.
Also, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 14 of the 20 fastest-growing jobs require an associate’s degree or less. Vocational colleges and trade schools are often said to provide a better ROI (return on investment).
In other words, if you happen to choose a lucrative specialization, there’s a chance that even with a high school diploma or an associate’s degree you’ll earn more than someone with a bachelor’s degree. It goes without saying, though, that a person holding a bachelor’s degree in one of the top 5 college majors in demand will still have an advantage over someone with an associate’s degree or high school diploma.
