In today’s volatile job market, many students are being very strategic when choosing the particular graduate degree that they want to pursue. So which degrees will allow students the most stability over the coming decades? The website GraduateGuide recently ran an article on graduate degrees with strong career prospects, and the results may surprise you. Here’s what was found:
The degree: Information systems
Employment stats: Job opportunities expected to increase by 30% through 2020
Expected mid-career pay: $101,000/year
Job function: According to the article, “’People with a Master’s in Information Systems are generally trained to be managers for IT workers,’ Katie Bardaro, Payscale’s lead economist, told the news outlet.” Since this degree combines management with a continually-growing industry, students can expect strong employment prospects.
The degree: Physics
Employment stats: Job opportunities expected to increase by 22% through 2020
Expected mid-career pay: $117,000/year
Job function: Says Bardaro, “”Unlike many of the other physical sciences, physics is one that transitions nicely from a lab to a big data world… The computations and technical tools utilized in a physics program are highly useful in the growing world of data science.’”
The degree: Physician’s Assistant
Employment stats: Job opportunities expected to increase by 30% through 2020
Expected mid-career pay: $98,000/year
Job function: According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, “an expanding population, aging baby boomers and demand for more affordable primary care providers have the potential to make physician assistant one of the better career choices students could make in the years ahead.” Job prospects across the rest of the health care sector are also set to continue growing over the coming years.
While employability is not the only factor that students consider when choosing a degree, knowing what opportunities one is likely to have after graduation is crucial information to have. Check out GraduateGuide’s full article here, and visit this Forbes article for even more information on job-related statistics for a variety of careers.
