MONROE, La., (KNOE 8 News) - Kiplinger's
Personal Finance Magazine has released the "10 Best College Majors for a Lucrative
Career."
To
develop the top 10 best college majors for lucrative careers, Kiplinger created
the list based on the unemployment rates and salaries for graduates of the 100
most popular college majors, using data from Georgetown University's Center on
Education and the Workforce and Payscale.com.
Pharmacy
and Pharmacology top the list, with Nursing, Treatment Therapy professions,
Construction Services, and Management Information Systems all
making an appearance in the top 10.
And it's worthwhile to note that Louisiana centers of higher learning offer all of these. Here in Monroe, ULM offers 9 of the 10 listed.
Pharmacy
and Pharmacology: The ULM
College of Pharmacy is the only state supported pharmacy program in Louisiana.
The college offers three distinct academic programs: the Doctor of Pharmacy
professional program; the graduate program in pharmacy, which offers a
Doctor of Philosophy Degree; and the Bachelor of Science program in Toxicology,
which is one of only seven undergraduate toxicology programs in the nation.
Nursing: Founded
in 1960, the newly named Kitty DeGree School of Nursing has a long history of
excellence, including excellent licensure exam scores. The United States is in
the midst of a nursing shortage expected to intensify as baby boomers age and
the need for health care grows. ULM's nursing school is accredited by the
Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and the Louisiana State Board
of Nursing.
Transportation
Sciences and Technology: ULM has a
proud history in Aviation. In 1939, ULM (then Northeast Junior College) became
one of 404 colleges to participate in the Civilian Pilot Training Program to
train pilots for World War II. The Aviation program, located in the College of
Business, prepare individuals to become competent, ethical, safety conscious
aviation professionals, ready to assume leadership roles in various aviation
management careers. The ULM Aviation program is accredited by Aviation
Accreditation Board International as an Aviation Studies program.
Treatment
Therapy Professions, Medical Technologies, and Medical Assisting
Services: All
listed in the top 10, ULM offers a plethora of degrees in comparable fields, all
in ULM's College of Health Sciences. The college's fully accredited programs
include Medical Laboratory Science (hospital program accreditation), Dental
Hygiene, Health Studies, Nursing, Occupational Therapy Assistant,
Speech-Language Pathology, and Radiologic Technology.
Each of
these programs has a long history of its graduates scoring well above the
national average for passage rate on professional licensure examinations, which
is usually a requirement to work in these fields.
Electrical
Engineering and Construction Services: Although
ULM does not offer a degree in electrical engineering, courses in the
Construction Management Program—also featured in the top 10 listing—offer
students the ability to provide the construction industry and related fields
with highly trained and motivated graduates who are prepared for a professional
career through specialized managerial, financial, and technical course
work. The
program, accredited in 1976, was the first program accredited by the American
Council for Construction Education (ACCE).
Management
Information Systems: Although
titled differently, what Kiplinger defines as Management Information Systems is
almost a carbon copy of ULM's Computer Information Systems degree, which offers
students the chance to develop and manage information technology systems and
resources for organizations of all types. Graduates pursue jobs with
titles such as Computer Security Specialist, Computer
Systems Analyst, Network Systems and Data Communication Analyst, Network and
Computer Systems Administrator.
