Pathways to Careers and Higher Education
Many programs at the community and technical colleges allow you to follow a career pathway. This means you can move up to a better job in your career or industry by building on your education. Each step along a career pathway prepares you to progress to the next level of pay and for future education.
For example, in a nursing pathway, a student might first earn a CNA (Certified Nursing Assistant) certificate. After working for a while, the student might decide to earn an LPN (Licensed Practical Nurse) degree. From there, the student could earn a Registered Nurse (RN) degree. In the future, a BSN (Bachelor of Science in Nursing) might be the next step for a promotion.
Lifelong Learning
Your level of education, chosen occupation, years of work experience and lifestyle choices can all impact how much you earn. But simply put, the more you learn, the more you can earn.
In today’s fast-changing economy and global workplace, education is a lifelong pursuit. Whether it’s one class to learn Microsoft-Word or earning a bachelor’s degree to be eligible for a promotion, you will never stop learning. In fact, some of those attending community and technical colleges already have bachelor’s degrees and are retraining for new careers.
Annual Earnings by Educational Level
Based on a population 18 years or older, both sexes, employed full-time year round,
the following tables illustrates annual earnings by educational level.
annual income by education level
| Level of Education |
Annual Income |
| Source: U.S. Census Bureau, Educational Attainment in the United
States: 2006, Table 8: Year Round Full Time Workers. http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/education/cps2006.html
|
| Less than high school graduate |
$ 22,326 |
| High school diploma or GED |
$ 31,209 |
| Associate or vocational degree |
$ 40,708 |
| Bachelors degree |
$ 51,436 |
| Masters degree |
$ 64,540 |
| Professional degree |
$ 100,000 |
| Doctorate degree |
$ 85,774 |