Many people recoil at the idea of going back to school. The cost of tuition coupled with chronic unemployment and unpaid student loans among graduates has, for many would-be students, caused them to reconsider a pursuit of higher education. In some ways, this is understandable. Avoiding debt and financial instability is a major priority for many people. However, if you look at your life in the long run, going back to school may actually be the more shrewd endeavor, as it can prepare you for many careers that will simply be unattainable without formal training, careers that will be around for a long time and may open the doors to still more lucrative ones. These include increasingly ubiquitous career paths such as medical billing, web development, and financial advising. Let’s take a quick glance at the relative strengths of these paths for prospective students considering a return to school:
Medical billing. This is an increasingly important job in the healthcare industry that is responsible for submitting claims to insurance companies. It is essentially the facilitation of the relationship between a health care provider and an insurance company. Medical billers reduce the burden of paperwork and the administrative stress put on medical practitioners. Considered an important part of the insurance process, medical billing is expected to continue to carve out a fresh slate of jobs for medical graduates.
Web development. Web development is, in many ways, the equivalent of manufacturing in the 40s, its the fresh face on a near infinite new economic infrastructure that may eventually usurp the revenue generated by industrial sectors. There are a wide variety of career paths in web development: web design, SEO, social media, programming, web hosting, CMS, etc. The list goes on and on. An aggressive pursuit of a web development career is a strong step toward future job stability—and hefty paychecks as well.
Financial advising. Financial advisers are always in demand, by variety of suitors—government agencies, businesses, individuals. Their tools are generally stocks, bonds, mutual funds, real estate, and insurance. Whether you’re “fee-based” or “fee-only”, a career in financial advisement is not likely to be outdated any time soon. A college education in this field will also prepare you for the new electronic frontier of financials that involve heavy online sophistication.
These are just three of the many careers that analysts say have strong job stability moving forward. For students who are considering returning to school but are weary of accruing more debt, it is worth looking at career paths such as these that will lead you into a flexible yet stable future with long term financial benefits.
