THE MOST VERSATILE DEGREE
Business Degrees
What Can You Do With A Business Degree?
Learn why majoring in business could make good business sense.
Forget about skinny jeans. The most popular accessory in school these days is a business degree.
Over 300,000 students graduated with a bachelor's in business in 2008, according to the National
Center for Education Statistics. That's more degrees than social sciences, history and health
sciences, combined, according to the "Digest of Education Statistics, 2009" report.
Business is a popular degree with employers too.
"In general, the average employer views business majors as very solid job candidates, thanks to
their broad-based education and business know-how," writes Kate Walsh in her book "What Can
You Do With A Major In Business: Real People. Real Jobs. Real Rewards."
Wondering what you could do with a business degree? Keep reading for five increasingly popular
business career choices that could offer great average earning potential and opportunity.
By Chris Kyle
#1 - Eco-Investor
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Many experts believe green energy - and environmental
investment - is America's next big bubble, and eco-investors
will help sway what companies and sustainable practices take
off. Like any kind of investing, eco-investing requires informed
decisions, based on solid business practices taught in school.
"Eco-investors have diverse educational backgrounds," writes
Pamela Fehl in "Green Careers: Business & Construction", "but
most people in this field have a bachelor's degree in
business."
Average Salary: $83,000*
Related Degree:Business Administration
#2 - Entrepreneur
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Entrepreneurship is all the rage these days, with 4 out of 10
young people having already started or would like to start
their own business, according to an August 2010 Harris
Interactive survey.
In business school, you could benefit by reading case studies
of famous startups. You'll also likely network with other
entrepreneurially-minded students while learning how to
build and sustain a business.
Average Salary: $111,000*
Related Degree: Business Administration
#3 - Pharmaceutical Sales
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Pharmaceutical sales leapt from $40 billion in 1990 to
$234 billion in 2008. Since commission can often factor
heavily into sales salaries, the sky could be the limit for your
earning potential.
Closing, forecasting, prospecting, networking, and
management techniques are all sales topics you are likely to
study in business school.
Average Salary: $88,150*
Related Degree:Marketing/Communications
#4 - Human Resources Specialist
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Human resources are a key part of any business,
regardless of the industry. As companies look to
streamline budgets, HR departments are looking for
employees who can contribute from day one. This goes
for human resources specialists as well, so studying HR in
a business school program could help get your career
rolling.
Average Salary: $59,070*
Related Degree:Human Resources
#5 - Accountant
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Some of the newer industries already mentioned - like green
technology and social media - share the same dollars and cents
approach that forms the bedrock of any business. Accountants help all
types of companies turn a profit by paying their bills and taxes on
time and performing budget analyses.
Accounting may also be one of the more valuable business degrees
you can earn, since the U.S. Department of Labor forecasts a 22
percent jump in employment opportunities for accountants and auditors
through 2018.
Average Salary: $67,430*
Related Degree:Accounting/Finance
*Average salary comes from the U.S. Department of Labor, using 2009 median salary information,
except Eco-Investor and Entrepreneur, which come from January 2011 salary data from
SimplyHired.com.
What Are The Most Effective Degrees?
Check out these five degrees that experts say could be the most
effective for today's job market.
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Thinking of going back to school to improve your job prospects?
Remember: Some degrees are more valued by employers than others.
In fact, you might be interested to know that different majors have
different average salary outlooks - some brighter than others. As one
example, the National Association of Colleges and Employers' (NACE)
October 2011 Salary Survey found that the average starting salary
offer to bachelor's degree graduates rose from $48,288 for the class
of 2010 to $51,171 for the class of 2011.
Read on to check out five degrees that the experts say provide the
best chances at landing a good career.
By Terence Loose
Effective Degree #1 - Business Administration
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Want to earn a degree that you could potentially apply in just about any industry?
A bachelor's in business administration is a good fit, says Michael Brandt, chief
operating officer of the recruiting software firm BrightMove, Inc.
"When businesses hire, they look for that broad range of basic skill sets that they can
build on," Brandt says. Perhaps that's why, as a person who finds people jobs, he
says a business administration degree is his number one pick.
That sentiment seems to be backed up by the NACE Salary Survey. More than 58
percent of the businesses surveyed said they planned to hire business administration
grads. And what did they plan to pay them? The average starting salary jumped 5.4
percent to $46,372.
Related Career Paths, Average Salary Potential, and Future Job Growth*
 Personal Finance Advisor: $91,220, 30 percent
 Financial Analyst: $86,040, 20 percent
Effective Degree #2 - Psychology
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Looking for a degree that's nearly as versatile as business but focused more on the human
condition? You might want to check out a bachelor's degree in psychology, says Laurence
Shatkin, Ph.D., and author of many books on education including "The 10 Best College Majors
for Your Personality.“
"Psych majors go into fields such as public relations, advertising, and management because
they understand something about the way people's minds tick. Also, they learn statistics and
that kind of analytical ability is very useful in managerial jobs. I think hiring people realize
that," says Shatkin.
According to the NACE studies, they sure do. NACE's July 2011 Salary Survey reported that
psychology bachelor's degree grads saw their average starting salary increase 23.8 percent
to $40,069.
Related Career Paths, Average Salary Potential, and Future Job Growth*
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Market Research Analyst: $66,850, 28 percent
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Probation Officer: $51,240, 19 percent
Effective Degree #3 - Accounting
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If you're a numbers person, get ready to read some very encouraging ones - regarding
people earning bachelor's degrees in accounting.
First, the NACE 2012 Job Outlook study found that nearly 60 percent of employers planned
to hire grads with accounting degrees. Second, they planned to pay those graduates two
percent more, or $49,671, from a year before. Why is accounting such an effective degree?
"The U.S. Department of Labor is very optimistic about accounting because they've seen that
the complexity of business transactions keeps increasing. That means accountants have to
keep track of things. Also, people want companies to be answerable to stockholders, and for
that they need accountants. So I would say that is one of the more successful majors," says
Shatkin.
Related Career Paths, Average Salary Potential, and Future Job Growth*
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Accountant: $68,960, 22 percent
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Budget Analyst: $70,660, 15 percent
Effective Degree #4 - Information Technology (IT)
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You may have heard that we now live in the information age. So it's no
wonder that IT is one of the most effective bachelor's degrees in today's job
market.
"There's a whole new platform of smart phones and other devices, like
tablets, that mean computers are being used in ways and places that never
existed before," says Shatkin. "Also, everything that used to be analog is
now digital, so we need people to deal with the systems that support them.“
Computer and information science grads matched accounting grads at 59.3
percent of the employers planning to recruit them, according to the NACE
studies. As for NACE's October 2011 Salary Survey, computer science grads
had an average starting salary that increased 9.3 percent to $66,084. Nice
numbers indeed.
Related Career Paths, Average Salary Potential, and Future Job Growth*
 Computer Systems Analyst: $81,250, 20 percent
 Network and Computer Systems Administrator: $72,200, 23 percent
Effective Degree #5 - Health Care Administration
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Are you the efficient, managerial type but also attracted to the health care
industry? Consider a bachelor's or master's degree in medical and health
services management.
"There's a real need for people with associate's degrees or even certificates
in health care administration," says Shatkin. "This is because there are many
different insurance companies that doctors need to communicate with, and
each has its own set of forms. Look at the typical doctor's office today; half
of it is dedicated to the business side."
According to the U.S. Department of Labor, health care is projected to be
the fastest growing industry from 2008-2018.
Related Career Paths, Average Salary Potential, and Future Job Growth*
 Medical Service Manager: $93,670, 16 percent
 Health Service Manager: $93,670, 16 percent