Investing money and time in a college education, especially as an adult learner, needs to come with a payoff. There’s obviously the personal satisfaction of finally having that hard-earned college degree. And yes, you want to choose a career you love. That career, though, can be even more valuable when it is in a field with available jobs that pay well. That’s why researching wages and unemployment rates can be critical you’re considering career choices and college degrees.

Median earnings among recent college graduates vary from $30,000 in the arts, psychology, and social work to $55,000 among engineering majors, according to a January 2012 report by Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce.

Unemployment has started to come down but rates remain high, at 8.9 percent for recent graduates with bachelor’s degrees. But you’re still better off with a college degree than with a high school diploma, where unemployment is at a “catastrophic” 22.9 percent, according to the report “Hard Times: College Majors, Unemployment and Earnings: Not All College Degrees Are Created Equal.” Here’s another telling fact from the report:

“More than 60 percent of these recent college graduates who are working have landed in the healthcare, professional contracting businesses, or education sectors.”

So what majors have the highest and lowest unemployment rates among recent grads? The study says …

Highest

Architecture: 13.9 percent

Arts: 11.1 percent

Humanities and liberal arts: 9.4 percent

Social science: 8.9 percent

Computers and mathematics: 8.2 percent

Law and public policy: 8.1 percent

Lowest

Healthcare and education: 5.4 percent each

Agricultural and natural resources: 7 percent

Psychology and social work: 7.3 percent

Communications and journalism: 7.3 percent

Business: 7.4

Engineering: 7.5

Life and physical sciences: 7.7 percent

How do these stats impact your thoughts about career fields and degrees? Let us know in the comments section below.

President Obama has big plans and high hopes for community colleges, career training, and keeping college costs down.

In his State of the Union address last evening, President Obama kept circling back to the importance of education, and how a well educated nation will grow the economy, keep jobs on our soil, and take us into a better future.

Here’s a glance at his main points:

“Growing industries in science and technology have twice as many openings as we have workers who can do the job. Think about that – openings at a time when millions of Americans are looking for work. That’s inexcusable”

“Now you need to give more community colleges the resources they need to become community career centers – places that teach people skills that local businesses are looking for right now, from data management to high-tech manufacturing.”

“At a time when Americans owe more in tuition debt than credit card debt, this Congress needs to stop the interest rates on student loans from doubling in July. Extend the tuition tax credit we started that saves middle-class families thousands of dollars. And give more young people the chance to earn their way through college by doubling the number of work-study jobs in the next five years.”

What role do you think higher education and career training will play for the future of America? Sound off below…

-Dawn Papandrea

Pinterest isn’t just an awesome social media place for craft ideas, fashion, makeup and hair tips, recipes, birthday party themes, and home design ideas (they’re fueling my dream of having a custom master bedroom closet). If you’re on Pinterest, and if you can tear yourself away from repining those things to your boards, you’ll notice that one of the categories on Pinterest is education.

A lot of the items posted on the education boards are related to children, but some are more adult-friendly and could encourage you to go back to college or pursue a new degree.

Also, if you’re a “pinaholic,” think about how much time you spend browsing other boards, such as photography, hair and beauty, fitness, science and nature, technology, and history. Your passion for one of those subjects may be clear, and it could lead you to start researching career paths in those areas that have captured your interest for a long time.

Here are some of the latest things we’ve seen pinned that can inform you about potential new careers or degrees or inspire you as an adult learner. Our links take you to the actual webpage, so that those who don’t have Pinterest accounts can see them, too.

The Bachelor’s Job Market
A social media professor (sounds like a cool job) at Syracuse University posted this insightful infographic, created by Rasmussen College, that shows the need for more bachelor’s degree holders and reasons why people don’t pursue their degree.

I’m So Much More Than Just a Teacher poster
If you’re considering going into education, whether to work as a teacher’s assistant at your child’s school or to teach in another grade level, this poster’s message may be the push that you need to head into that direction.

Albert Einstein Quotes
The inspirational sayings on Pinterest range from sassy to sappy, but if you sort through, you can find some that may be worth putting your computer, phone, or near study central for you. The ones by Albert Einstein often pop up, joining others by authors, book characters, and even created by Pinterest members themselves.

Oh, and don’t forget to check us out on Pinterest. Our Boards are a mixture of smart (College-related Infographics and A+ College Stuff) and fun (Because Bacon Makes You Smarter).

Are you on Pinterest? Tell us what you’ve learned so far. Happy pinning!

-Lori Johnston

Which college degrees provide better job security?

A new study from the Georgetown Center on Education and the Workforce implies that your degree choice can have a big impact on keeping a job. According to the findings, risk of unemployment for recent graduates varies considerably depending on their major.

You can check out the full report, Hard Times, College Majors, Unemployment and Earnings: Not All College Degrees Are Created Equal, but here are some of the takeaways we’ve gleaned from it:

- Specializing is great, but develop skills that can be applicable in a number of ways. Case in point: The highest unemployment rate in the study was for architecture graduates (13.9 percent), a direct reflection of the struggling real estate market, and there’s little work outside of that industry. On the other hand, those with financial or computer expertise can transfer those skills to work for most any corporation or organization.

- Now might be a good time to get that advanced degree you’ve been mulling over. The overall unemployment rate for people with graduate degrees is just 3 percent.

- Look for ties to strong industries. Recent graduates in Engineering, the Sciences, Education, or Healthcare are tied to stable or growing sectors, and therefore, offer opportunities with the most staying power (with just a 5.4% unemployment rate).

On the bright side, any degree is still better than not having one at all. Recent bachelor’s degree earners have an 8.9 percent unemployment rate, while job seekers with just a high school diploma are at 22.9 percent, and high school dropouts are at 31.5 percent.

-Dawn Papandrea

The holiday frenzy may be over, but the new year often rings in an organizing frenzy that can eat up free time. Organizing strategies and tips that are meant for your pantry, closets, laundry room, storage spaces, and other areas also can be perfect when searching for a new career.

Here are three ways you can organize your search for a new profession (and after you’re done, go ahead, use them in your home, too).

1. Do it in intervals.
Plunging into a search for a new career can be overwhelming – just like trying to organize a year’s worth of photos, children’s art projects, or receipts for your taxes. Make time to research career options and the type of education programs you’ll want to pursue by returning to school, but don’t expect to do it all in one day. Spending a couple of hours at a time can keep you energized throughout the process.

2. Get help.
Bounce ideas of someone you trust and who will support you in your career endeavors. Whether it’s a spouse, parent, best friend, or colleague, having someone to help you during the process can motivate you, especially if you ever want to give up your search.

3. Tackle one area at a time.
In your home, you don’t want to jump from one area, like the kitchen, to the bedroom closet to the garage or the kids’ playroom, until you’re done with the other one. That just leads to chaos. To avoid a chaotic career search, start off by focusing on your passions and the types of occupations that fit with those passions (you can also take career assessments to help you with this part of the process), then go onto researching salary and job potential, then degree programs. As you tackle these decisions, set up a system by creating folders on your computer, smartphone, tablet, or in your paper files, to make sure that you lose any valuable research.

Taking these steps can help you keep focused on your career search and finding the profession of your dreams.

-Lori Johnston

Five Steps to a Better Career in 2012

Beyond breaking your cheese doodle habit and saving more money, you’ve probably got a career resolution or two. And, if not, you should!

Here are some ideas to get you started on your 2012 career advancement plan, courtesy of Julie Redfield, talent management expert at PA Consulting Group:

Connect the dots. Career building is all about the connections, isn’t it? “Reconnect with school friends, prior employers and others in your profession. You never know where that next opportunity will come from,” says Redfield.

Look up. Redfield suggests that you identify a mentor, at least two levels up from your current position, and ask if you can pick his or her brain for career advice. This strategy also works if you’re looking into entering a new industry. See if you can identify someone willing to show you the ropes, whether it’s at an industry event, or by requesting an informational interview with someone at a company you’d love to work for.

Meet new people at work. Make this your goal today: “Identify one person in the office that I don’t know, and make an effort to get to know them and learn what their career aspirations are,” says Redfield. Along those lines, try to pay one genuine compliment to someone new every day. Getting to know people and being likeable, can go a long way.

Be the boss’ go-to employee. Every Monday, pay a visit to your boss’ office and ask what’s on his or her worry list, says Redfield. Then offer to help. That’ll help you remain top of mind, and when it comes time for promotions, guess who will be at the top of the consideration list?

Get smarter. This is one of our best tips, but we’re sure Redfield and other career experts would agree. If there’s a skill you’re lacking or something you don’t know, make this the year that you update your knowledge. Take a class online, see if your company offers career training, go to seminars, or if it’s warranted, consider exploring a certificate or degree program.

What are your career resolutions? Please share them with us here, or on Twitter (use #careerresolution).

Happy 2012!

-Dawn Papandrea

When searching for a community college, you want to select a school that cares about students being successful with the coursework and after graduation, in finding well-paying jobs.

The Aspen Institute

Part of your research should include the honors that schools have received, and here’s a new one we wanted to bring to your attention. The Aspen Prize for Community College Excellence was launched in 2011, and as more people look to commercial colleges for affordability and convenience, it is great to see these schools receiving the spotlight.

The award recognized community colleges with strong results in student learning, completion, equity, and post-college employment and earnings.

The winner was … Florida’s Valencia College. The Orlando school has some pretty impressive numbers, with more than half of its full-time students either graduating or transferring within three years of entering college. And 30 percent of the students who enter Valencia transfer to a four-year college.

Here’s an incredible story from the writeup about Valencia College that shows how the school (which received a $600,000 award) has been a source for local employers, helping connect students with job openings.

“Jim Lipscomb, a Northrop Grumman manager in Orlando, used to spend half the year on the road, looking for workers qualified to help make laser sights for military hardware. Competition was fierce—a good candidate had five or ten job offers to choose from—and those he hired often left Florida in months, homesick for Texas or Idaho or Iowa.

Now, Lipscomb doesn’t need to leave town. Over the last several years, he has hired nearly every laser technician who has come out of Valencia, which created a program in response to growing industry demand. Valencia is doing its part to fill a national shortage of laser technicians while linking local residents to well-paying jobs for local residents.”

Here are the nine finalists for the Aspen Prize, which also are partnering with businesses and creating innovative programs for their community college students. You can read each of the finalists’ stories, too, to see what those schools are doing to stand out.

• Lake Area Technical Institute (South Dakota)

• Miami Dade College (Florida)

• Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College

• Mott Community College (Michigan)

• Northeast Iowa Community College-Calmar

• Santa Barbara City College (California)

• Southwest Texas Junior College

• Valencia College (Florida)

• Walla Walla Community College (Washington)

• West Kentucky Community and Technical College

Former Secretary of Education Richard Riley, who co-chaired the jury that selected the winners, made these comments in connection with the award:”Community colleges for too long have been under-appreciated. By 2018, more than 60 percent of American jobs will require some kind of post-secondary qualification, and community colleges are uniquely poised to answer the needs of both employers and students looking for economic security.”

If you’re attending any of these schools or planning on starting there soon, definitely check out how you can benefit from their initiatives that are worthy of the spotlight!

-Lori Johnston