Five Degrees That Spell Success
Higher Education Articles November 9, 2012If you are chasing the American dream, you could not ask for a better role model than Oprah Winfrey, the queen of talk. Oprah equipped herself with a degree in speech communications at Nashville, TN – Tennessee State University, and became the first African-American to become a news anchor in the city, on WLAC-TV.
Currently, Oprah is counted among the world’s most influential and powerful women. Motivation is the key to success and a college degree can play an important role. In this article, we will list five college degrees that could spell success in your future career.
Bachelor Degree in Business
A degree in business ranks as the world’s most popular bachelor degree and billionaires such as Warren Buffett and Mark Cuban have earned this degree from the University of Nebraska and Indiana University, respectively. A business degree can make you employable in a wide range of jobs and industries. It gives you an en route to a rewarding career. Midcareer professionals with a bachelor degree earned an annual average salary of $70,000. The respective average annual salary figures for insurance undertakers, budget analysts and administrative services managers are $63,330, $69,240 and $81,530.
(Source: PayScale’s 2010-2011 College Salary Report)
Bachelor Degree in Communications
Apart from Oprah, a few other celebrities have earned a communications degree. For instance, Jimmy Fallon who had a degree in computer science decided to pursue one in communications as well; Howard Stern received a communications degree from Boston University. A communication degree prepares you for a successful career in various fields, such as social media, journalism, marketing, and sales. Midcareer communication professionals command lucrative salaries, for instance, advertising sales agents who on average take home $53,190 annually while public relations specialist earned $59,370 per annum, and technical writers average $65,610.
Bachelor Degree in Nursing
A bachelor degree in nursing open doors to opportunities that was proven by Hazel W. Johnson-Brown. In 1979, Johnson-Brown rose to the rank of Brigadier-General, the highest rank held in US military history by an African American woman. Appointed to the post of Chief of the Army Nurse Corps, Johnson-Brown earned a bachelor degree in nursing from Villanova University. Her military career began in 1955 after she received a degree from the Harlem Hospital School of Nursing.
Johnson-Brown’s case should inspire you to return to school and earn a bachelor degree in nursing that qualifies you for one of the United States three million registered nursing (RN) jobs.
A registered nurse at Nursing Care Facilities earns $59,320 per annum; the respective average annual income figures for a registered nurse at Outpatient Care Centers and a registered nurse at Surgical Hospitals are $65,690 and $67,740.
Bachelor Degree in Economics
You could do worse than follow the example of Ronald Reagan, credited with having created “Reaganomics”. The former president earned a bachelor degree in economics at Eureka College. Knowledge of economic theories will improve your understanding of how the world is being ran; therefore it is no surprise that many successful businessmen and politicians have made it their degree of choice. The most notable being Ted Turner who received his economics degree from Brown university, Meg Whitman (CEO of eBay) received hers from Princeton, and Donald Trump who received an economics degree from the University of Pennsylvania.
An economics degree often goes hand in hand with high earnings potential. For instance, midcareer economics graduates earn $97,800 as average annual income. Financial analysts earned $85,240 per annum, personal financial advisors take home $94,180 and actuaries top the list with an average annual income of $97,450.
Master Degree in Business Administration
A MBA is great preparation for leadership that can be vouched by Nike’s Phil Knight who earned his master degree from Stanford University, or George W. Bush, General Colin Powell and William R. Johnson who received theirs from Harvard, George Washington University and University of Texas respectively. The courses hone on strategies and techniques needed to handle management and business problems of complexity; accounting and marketing are among the practical subjects taught. A MBA degree can open doors to financial prosperity. For instance, Industrial production managers earned an average annual salary of $93,650 while sales managers take home $111,570 and financial managers earned $113,730.