It’s Simple – More Education Means More Money

Just getting a college degree is a huge help in getting a higher paying job, but in order to maximize lifetime earnings, concentrating education in areas that have or will have a high demand for workers gives an extra earnings boost.

The BLS projects that between 2004 and 2014, at least 13.9 million jobs will be filled by college-educated workers. More than half of these openings are expected to come from the need to fill newly created jobs; the rest will be the result of the need to replace people who leave the workforce either due to retirement or other reasons. Today’s baby boomers are tomorrow’s retirees, and replacement workers will be in high demand.

Some of these job openings will be for “pure-college” workers -a degree will be needed in order to get the job. Occupations that employ mostly college graduates are expected to gain new jobs faster than those that employ the less-educated. Between 2004 and 2014, pure-college occupations are projected to grow 19 percent, whereas growth of all other occupations is expected to be 13 percent. The BLS projects that between 2004 and 2014, the top 20 occupations with the most openings for college graduates, in descending order of demand, will be:

• • Postsecondary teachers (892,000)

• • Elementary school teachers, except special education (587,000)

• • Accountants and auditors (486,000)

• • Secondary school teachers, except special and vocational education (436,000)

• • Computer software engineers, applications (268,000)

• • Middle school teachers, except special and vocational education (225,000)

• • Physicians and surgeons (212,000)

• • Lawyers (205,000)

• • Management analysts (204,000)

• • Computer software engineers, systems software (180,000)

• • Clergy (139,000)

• • Pharmacists (101,000)

• • Child, family, and school social workers (98,000)

• • Special education teachers, preschool, kindergarten, and elementary school (97,000)

• • Educational, vocational, and school counselors (94,000)

• • Mechanical engineers (87,000)

• • Market research analysts (86,000)

• • Education administrators, elementary and secondary school (80,000)

• • Civil engineers (77,000)

• • Physical therapists (72,000).