You may be wondering if higher education is right for you. In this recession, many are pondering the value of higher education. Though it’s expensive, the overall return on investment is pretty high. Those who have a higher degree, like a traditional bachelors or online master degree, can open up many doors leading to a better life. Many fields benefit greatly from having applicants with a higher education than high school, including nursing and sociology.

Nursing is a very in-demand field. For those who are interested in getting out of their dead-end-jobs, nursing is a good start. You can begin working in the field after just two years of school as a Licensed Practical Nurse. LPNs often continue their schooling online to work towards becoming a Registered Nurse, which is an additional two years of schooling. Either way, becoming a registered nurse can be a very gratifying field for those who are interested in helping people.

For those of you who are registered nurses, in order to take on more advanced practices, a master’s degree is required. Advanced practices include clinical nurse specialists, nurse anesthetists, nurse-midwives and nurse practitioners.

Sociology is the study of society; the study of people and their interactions with each other. As a job in itself, there are none. However, this isn’t to say that the degree is useless. The applications for sociology are many. They include rural sociology, criminology, cultural studies, area studies, child development, cognitive sciences, communication studies, community counseling, peace studies and social work. Think of the degree as almost a jack-of-all-trades type of degree. However, the most successful applicants take a special interest in one of these niche studies. Students who do this will prepare themselves for one of the many career fields out there for sociology. These include international relations, health care, business consultation, urban social work, criminal justice, seminar and workshop consultations, education and administration, state agencies, evaluation research and law.
Sociology is a growing field. It may not be as in-demand as nursing, however with continents creating easier ways to communicate with one another, sociology will be creating new fields including the changes in interaction and culture through mediums such as Facebook and Twitter. This field is still developing, but as of now there are plenty of applications to land a job in the public and state sector.

For those who already have a job, higher education isn’t just for fresh out of high school students. If you are employed and are looking to improve your future, higher education can help you too. Online schools fit any time budget. They are designed to work around you instead of you working around them. For example if a registered nurse wants to complete their education for a more advanced practice, online education would be best for them. Because nurses are very busy, they would have to use online education, which can be completed at the student’s pace, no matter how long it takes.

Online education can also be utilized by entire companies to bring their already experienced employees up to date with more modern techniques. As business models change, the older businesses struggle to compete with younger businesses that are using nonconventional techniques in order to gain business—techniques that are proving to be more successful in the new era. If more companies invested in online education in order to improve their employees, they would see a significant change in productivity and new ideas coming into the business.

Higher education is really just as valuable for those emerging from high school and those who have been in the work force for a while. The benefits typically outweigh the expense and most graduates gain higher job satisfaction. Whether choosing a traditional or online school, either is a safe vehicle to pursuing a higher standard of living in this bunk economy.