Career Vocation versus Study Location

Can you have the best of both worlds?

If you are one of the millions of Americans that started work straight from high school, then the U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics shows that on average you earn 43% less than colleagues who hold a bachelor’s degree.

Regardless of earnings, you are also more likely to be unemployed if you do not have a higher degree. Unemployment among college graduates is half the 6% national average. Enrolling for a degree seems the obvious solution to boost your career. A campus or online program in business or IT could bring you up to date; or perhaps a healthcare program of some kind could pave the way to a new career. If you’d like something completely different, a degree in the culinary arts, fashion design, or interior design might lead to the career of your dreams.

Of course, going to college isn’t only about choosing the right program to secure or switch careers. Finding the right location is also important, as it will shape your personal environment for up to four years. Whether you are looking for culture, the right social scene, outdoor activities or simply a complete change of scenery, you need to be happy with your living conditions. If your heart is where your current home is, then you could even stay there and enroll for an online degree.

Business and IT
Graduates with industry-current technical knowledge have a competitive advantage in a world where technology pervades almost every aspect of our personal and working lives. So, too, do business graduates. IT and telecommunications are in particularly high demand, and employers need people who can apply technology in a business context. The International Academy of Design and Technology (IADT) offers their distinguished technology education at a number of U.S. locations, including the buzzing, vibrant city of Chicago, IL, the historical city of Pittsburgh, PA and Florida’s sunny travel destination of Orlando. The American InterContinental University (AIU) is equally well-known for its IT and management programs, offering campuses in a number of Southern locales including Atlanta, GA, South Florida, FL, Houston, TX, and Los Angeles, CA. Brooks College in Long Beach, CA is another institution, specifically noted for its networking and technology programs. You could launch your career with an aviation, business, or technology degree from a Westwood College campus in California (Anaheim, Inland Empire, Long Beach or Los Angeles, Colorado (Denver), Illinois (Chicago) or Texas (Dallas , Fort Worth, and Houston).

Healthcare
An aging population in the U.S. means that by 2010 healthcare services will jump by 30% and account for 3.1 million new jobs. At the Sanford-Brown Institute in Cleveland, OH, you can pursue a program in Medical Assisting, Diagnostic Medical Sonography or Cardiovascular Technology in a city that is situated on the edge of Lake Erie and is home to 28 Fortune 500 companies. At DeVry University's Phoenix campus, you could pursue a biomedical technology program while enjoying the warm, dry climate of one of the fastest growing cities in the U.S. If you don’t see the location of your dreams above, click here for a comprehensive list of healthcare schools near you.

Fashion Design
The fashion design industry is proving remarkably resilient in the economic recession, and there are several excellent programs available in some popular cities. If you’re tempted by Southern California’s 345 days of sunshine each year, look no further than the fashion design programs at Brooks College in Long Beach or at the AIU campus in Los Angeles. For a taste of Southern charm, we recommend the low-cost but exciting metropolis of Atlanta, GA, and its AIU campus. Of course, if you want to be in the center of it all, there is no greater fashion Mecca than New York City - and no better place to earn your degree than the Katharine Gibbs School in midtown Manhattan.

Interior Design
Rising demand for professional design of private homes, offices, restaurants and institutions that care for the rapidly growing elderly population should spur employment growth for interior designers. According to economists at the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for designers will exhibit faster than average growth through 2010. There are great places to study in the Unites States. If you’re interested in Chicago’s renowned modern architecture, the Harrington College of Design might be for you. Brooks College Long Beach and AIU Los Angeles are both located in sun-drenched Southern California. Find the southeast’s interior design programs at IADT Orlando, or AIU Atlanta. If you’re a jetsetter at heart, then try AIU London, Great Britain. This European center of business and finance is a veritable melting pot of culture, architecture, heritage and opportunity, combined with a nightlife unrivaled the world over.

Culinary Arts
The restaurant industry is currently the biggest employer in the U.S. besides the government, with 11.7 million employees – 9% of all people employed in the U.S. A culinary arts degree program can set you up for a rewarding career with a bright future. Well-respected culinary programs are found on every coast. Westcoast programs include the California Culinary Academy in San Francisco and the California School of Culinary Arts in Pasadena. Study in the south at Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Atlanta.* Pennsylvania Culinary Institute in Pittsburgh offers programs in the northeast and the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago offers a midwestern option. You can choose to live in any of these great locations across the country.

Online Learning
If you have no desire to relocate, or you aren’t able to commit to a new location or regular hours, an online program could provide the flexibility and ease of access you require, without any compromise in quality or choice of subjects. University of Phoenix, one of the pioneers of online education, offers a comprehensive range of degrees – completely online. AIU Online is an established leader in Business, IT, Design, Education, and Criminal Justice degree programs. Westwood College Online offers courses in graphic design and animation. Kaplan University offers degree programs in Criminal Justice and Paralegal Studies. Often, 100% of the curriculum can be completed via the Internet, including administration and book buying.

Enhancing Your Career
Whether you choose an online degree or a campus degree in one of the great career areas or locations featured here, you can be sure that you have taken a step in the right direction for securing enhanced earning power, increased promotion prospects and greater career choice for the future.

*Le Cordon Bleu College of Culinary Arts Atlanta is a branch campus of Western Culinary Institute, Portland, OR.

By Katrina Boydon
A writer in the scientific and business communities for nearly twenty years, Katrina has worked as a research virologist at the Royal London Hospital Medical College, assistant editor-in-chief for a journal published by Blackwell Scientific Publications, as managing director of a postal and courier company, and set up her own business distributing newspapers and magazines in Russia. She has a bachelor’s degree in microbiology and studied part-time at the London Business School. She has lived in Wales, UK; Wolverhampton, UK; London, UK; Munich, Germany; Moscow, Russia; and currently resides in the French Alps. She travels frequently to California.

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