Americans have long seen a college degree as being the key to greater financial success. And statistics support that belief. Adult education is part of the lives of many who want to better themselves, and now there are many options for obtaining an undergraduate degree while still working full-time.
Night classes and online courses have enabled employed students to pursue their goals, and 83% of those who attend college report that earning a degree has paid off for them. Schools have found ways to accommodate working students with such benefits as flexible class schedules and child care.
What does a college degree mean in terms of real dollars? A college graduate’s hourly wage is about $32.60, on average. If you earn a bachelor’s degree, your typical starting salary will be $45,000 per year.
Many who seek higher education do so to enhance their knowledge of the field in which they’re already working. But there are other academic paths that provide training that can be useful in a great many different job situations. One of those is communication studies.
As an umbrella term, “communication studies” covers everything from how we interact with each other on an individual basis to mass media such as radio and television. A communication studies graduate could become a professor, work in journalism, enter the field of corporate training, be a public relations professional or simply apply the training to more general occupations such as human resources.
What sparks many students’ interest in communication studies is that it overlaps many diverse fields of study including psychology, sociology and political science, among others. Its general academic nature can spark their interest in these fields and often leads to pursuit of advanced degrees in these other disciplines.
It’s fair to say that communication studies is an excellent option for those who feel stuck in a dead end job and want to broaden their horizons by means of adult education.
