What are some non-competitive degree/major options to help get you into a career with a decent salary?

Question

Hello friends,

I was wondering if you had any advice or knowledge on what degree or major I might want to look into if I want to come out of school (2-year or 4-year institution) and get a career making a decent amount of money, in my opinion $25k-30k is decent.

Not calculating taxes or any of that, I figured that if I had a minimum-wage job, let's just say on average about $6/hour, I could work 40 hours a week for 52 weeks in a year, so it comes out to around $12k a year. That's barely enough to support yourself, let alone start a family.

I'll go talk to a college career counselor soon, but in the meantime I was wondering if you knew of any jobs or occupations that you could get with a specific college degree that made a decent amount of money, where you could support yourself and start a family, maybe like $25k-30k a year. I also put non-competitive in there because reasonably I know it's hard to get a lucrative career like becoming a doctor.

Thank you for your time and help.

Answer 1

I think you are selling yourself short. There are many, many degrees that you could easily get which will prepare you for jobs that pay even better than $30K. Basically, any major that teaches you a skill (beyond the basic liberal arts classes) that is in demand is going to pay well, from teachers (the LOWEST 10% make $26 - $31K; the average is over $40K) to chemical engineers (starting pay $60K right out of college!). Registered nurses are very much in demand and the lowest 10% earn $37,300. The highest 10% earn more than $74,760. The average building inspector earns $43,670. The pay for computer programmers ranges from $36K to $81K. The list goes on and on! All of these jobs are in demand and, thus, are not competitive.

You can start preparing for any of the above careers at your local community college and proceed from there. As I hope you can see, a college degree makes a huge difference in your earning potential. Look up any career that may interest you at the link, below.

P.S. None of the jobs I've mentioned require a Masters degree. You only need a Masters when you haven't been taught a skill to get your Bachelors. Some well-paying jobs (building trades, computer technology, etc) only require a 2-year degree.

Answer 2

25-30k is decent if you are on your own may be okay, but it depends on where you live. That salary would not dare cut it in California, New York, or Florida. I once had that salary not too long ago working as a case manager for a nonprofit agency and I was at 25k. Now I'm back in school majoring in nursing (i have a degree in psychology). But my question is why do you want to settle for such a low salary. Because that is low. The thing is the careers that are in demand are the ones that you want to go for, because you will always have a job and security and great benefits. So that when you start a family, you will be able to provide for them and the extra for yourself. With a 25k pay, all of your money will be going towards bills and expenses. That's what happened to me and I don't even have kids. I say try to re-evaluate this thought and then go from there. But to specifically answer your question is:
1.psychology-usually you would probably need your master's to get a decent job(case workers, bachelor's level counselor--the pay is very low)
2.social work-master's level make really good money
3.finance or accounting
4.education

Everything is basically requiring a master's or above. Good luck on your journey.

Answer 3

don't know where you are but in Calgary, SAIT Polytechnic has a RMC program. Nothing glamourous but a company will hire you, pay you a salary while you're in school and pay your tuition fees. after grad, you work for them for min 3 years at a good hourly rate. RMC is only 6 month program. RMC = Retail Meat Cutting. As I say, maybe not glamourous but it pays for itself and it pays well. SAIT polytechni, just like other poly has good program and most of the business related diploma programs lead to a degree at uni with no study delay. Check out your local college or come to SAIT! am studying there and it's great: good class, and guaranteed job after grad.