Ensure Your Employment During A Troubled Economy With An Online Degree!
Getting some career training when unemployment rates are high is what many students might have in mind when enrolling in community colleges that offer associate degrees. More and more classes are being offered online, a great idea that allows students to earn college degrees online as they continue with their current job or family responsibilities.
These colleges are said to be growing in programs and enrollment numbers online and on campus. Students who participate in associate degree studies might be able to choose from programs designed to help fill local business needs, as well as worldwide demands.
It's not unusual for cost-effective community college enrollment to increase when the economy worsens, according to the Pew Research Center. But these days, great proportions of young adults have graduated high school or completed an equivalency test, dropout rates are low and unemployment is the highest it's been in more than 25 years as well, according to the research center. What's more, new government incentives intended to encourage people to return to school, a WWJ Radio Great Lakes IT Report in Michigan noted.
Between October 2007 and 2008, the number of young adults ages 18 to 24 enrolled in community college rose from 3.1 million to 3.4 million, the Pew Research Center reported. There are findings that community college enrollment in states such as Rhode Island and Michigan is reaching record rates locally and comprising as much as 44 percent of all college enrollments throughout the country. This was suggested by reports from the Providence Journal and Great Lakes IT Report respectively.
Students also are turning to online community college offerings in substantial numbers, a Sloan Consortium report noted. Their enrollments over a five-year period accounted for more than half of all online college course enrollments, with nearly 2 million students in fall 2006 taking at least one online associate degree program class, according to the report published in 2007.
In general, occupations that require some higher education are expected to experience higher rates of growth into 2018 than those that call for on-the-job training, a Bureau of Labor Statistics report shows. According to the report, occupations in the associate degree category are expected to grow fastest. Occupations with the fastest growth that require an associate degree or less include physical therapy aides, dental hygienists, veterinary technicians and dental, home health and personal and home care aides, medical and physical therapy assistants, according to the report. Median annual earnings in these fields in 2008 ranged from $19,180 to $46,140, the report notes.
Rhode Island's community college has been working to establish or expand programs to meet statewide demands now and in the future, the Providence Journal article suggested. The Lane Report, a Kentucky business publication, reported in May of an associate degree program that's accelerated, taking as few as 20 months to complete and offered even within the places where students work.
The time that a degree program takes to complete can affect the number of people who obtain those degrees, according to an expert cited in the May/June edition of Washington Monthly. The article cited a successful Tennessee community college system that includes technology centers. Through these centers, students enrolling in one-year certificate programs in high demand fields benefit also from job placement services -and graduation and placement records are strong, the article suggested.
Facilitating the convenience of earning college degrees online is the flexibility of the programs. They simply fit into the hectic lifestyles most are living today. Continuing on, careerists are finding they can participate in an online masters program, even at the height of their busiest work days.
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