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Jobs requiring bachelor degree or higher will lead in job growth
The American workforce in the coming decade will provide more jobs for those who earn a bachelor degree or higher, placing those who work toward advanced degrees in a strong position to assume leadership roles in their industries.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that by 2016 there will be 43 million jobs for people holding a bachelor or post-graduate degree. Growing by 15 percent, jobs held by people with those degrees will grow faster than segments of the workforce that require less than a four-year degree.
And while half of the nation's workers in college-level occupations are in education, healthcare and IT, jobs in management, engineering and business and finance will also see significant growth for individuals armed with a degree. For instance, accountants, auditors and management analysts are in the top 10 occupations with college-level job openings projected through 2016, according to the BLS.
By contrast, the number of workers with a high school education or less will grow by about 8 percent, although they made up about 44 percent of the total workforce - or 66 million jobs - in 2006, the latest figures from the BLS show. For those workers with some college education, but not a bachelor degree, the job growth will be 11 percent in the next few years.
In some business fields, an MBA sets the standard for advancement
In the business world, increasingly complex financial regulations, budgets and investment strategies are cited as one reason college-educated personnel will be needed in the coming decade. While there remain some jobs that don't require degrees, or for which a bachelor degree is sufficient, those who achieve a master degree in business administration (MBA) will be in a strong position to earn more money and assume supervisory roles in some financial occupations.
The overwhelming need for a college degree in some business occupations suggests that an MBA would set the standard for achievement and advancement in those job categories. In addition to accountants, auditors and management analysts - who the BLS reported as nearly 80 percent college-educated - 87 percent of financial analysts had a bachelor degree or higher. Among personal financial advisors, about 80 percent had higher education degrees.
But the BLS also reported that, within some business and financial occupations, only about half were college-educated, including financial compliance officers, compensation and benefits specialists, insurance underwriters and tax preparers. Within those fields, about 15 percent of the workers had a high school diploma and the rest had some college or an associate's degree.
Last year, a report, titled "Left Behind in America: The Nation's Dropout Crisis," based on U.S. Census Bureau data from the 12 largest cities in the U.S. told of the difference a higher education can make for those who want to succeed in the modern workplace. "Americans without a high school diploma have considerably lower earning power and job opportunities in today's workforce," the report stated. "In the current global economy, having at least a high school diploma is a critical step for avoiding poverty, and a college degree is a prerequisite for a well-paying job."
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