Watch Career Videos

U.S. News University Directory has a new career section that provides students and adult learners detailed information about top jobs and job fields. Career pages include job descriptions, job summaries, an overview of the work environment, training and educational requirements and job projections and salary potential.

In addition to the job overviews and outlook information each includes a career video that provides additional information about the job or profession.



Recently added careers:

• Medical Assistants Jobs strong job growth will occur as the result of the growth and aging of the population and associated demand for healthcare.


• Accountants Jobs the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics estimates that accountants and auditors will experience 22% employment growth through 2018.


• Environmental Scientist Jobs annual income for environmental scientists and specialists was about $61,010 in May 2009.


• Special Education Teachers the number of special education teachers is expected to increase by 17% through 2018.

Comparing College Costs: How to Get the Most for Your College Dollar

The economy is recovering – slowly. Too slowly for most of those who lost their jobs in the recent recession to have seen any practical benefits yet. What’s more, the severity of the downturn has demonstrated that having any old job is not enough to ensure financial security. You have to have the right kind of job.

This growing realization among American workers has led to a huge interest in education. If you’re considering going back to school, you are probably wondering how to get the most for your college tuition – especially if you have work, family and other responsibilities.

You want to know if accredited online colleges are as good as their campus-based counterparts, and if online college courses can really save you a lot of money. You might also be wondering if you can accomplish your educational goals at a two-year community college, or if you’re better off pursuing a bachelor’s degree at a four-year school.

Here’s some critical information on each of your choices, and some numbers to help you compare prices:

Accredited Online Colleges vs. Campus-Based Colleges

First and foremost, a word of advice: Unless you are attending a vocational/technical program, don’t even consider on-campus or online schools that lack regional accreditation. Sure they’re cheap, but unaccredited colleges can cause students a variety of problems, including the inability to transfer credits from one school to another. That said, earning an online college degree can be a valid choice – just make sure that the institution you choose is certified by one of the six regional U.S. accrediting bodies.

Surprisingly, the cost of tuition at accredited online colleges is not all that different from what traditional public universities charge in-state students: both run about $250 - $300 per credit hour. Recent studies by The College Board report that once you add in other fees, this translates to roughly $7,500 per year.* However, the cost of tuition at accredited online colleges is significantly better than what public universities charge out-of-state students (about $12,000 per year) or the cost of a private college (about $27,000 annually).

Where you can really save money by studying online is in housing and transportation costs. Distance learning students do not have to pay dorm fees, purchase meal plans or drive to class – which, depending on your living situation, can mean big savings.

Community Colleges vs. Four-Year Colleges

Fortunately for America’s collective pocketbook, workers can enter many of the fastest-growing careers with an associate’s degree. Nursing and web design are excellent examples; even though higher degrees exist for both of these booming professions, an Associates in Nursing (ADN) or Associate of Applied Science (AAS) in Web Development can qualify you for entry-level positions in their respective fields.

At about $2,700 per year, the cost in tuition and fees of a two-year community college is significantly less than that of a public or private four-year school. If the career you want to enter requires only an associate’s degree, it definitely makes financial sense to earn it at a community college. And even if you’re planning on getting a bachelor’s, completing your first two years at the local community college can be a great way to save some money.

Final Thoughts

What four-year schools offer that community colleges and online colleges generally don’t is the “college experience” – sports, parties, dorm life, fraternities, sororities, etc. This is an important consideration for many younger students, and if you’re one of them then four years at a traditional college can be well worth the extra expense. On the other hand, working adults with families are seldom concerned about frat parties and football games, so an online school or community college is often a better choice.

Ultimately you will have to take the facts you’ve learned here, judge them in relation to your lifestyle and how much you can afford, and make the best decision you can. What’s most important is that you get a solid education from an accredited school so that you can land secure, lucrative employment once you graduate.

*Trends in College Pricing, 2010

5 Signs Your Online College Might Be a Diploma Mill

So you want to attend class from the comfort of your bedroom or home office, do you? I don’t blame you. When I was in college I would have given anything to trade my 8 am American Literature course for an online education option. I mean seriously; on a cold morning, who wouldn’t rather study Faulkner while wrapped in a leopard-print microfiber blanket and sipping hot coffee?

Online college degrees are more than just the newest trend in education. They are fundamentally reshaping the way we learn. In a 2009 report, the Sloan Consortium noted that enrollment in online degree programs had increased by 17%, which is over six times faster than the growth of the general college student population*.

But not all such programs are created equal. There are a few things you should know before breaking out the coffee mug and silly (but exceptionally comfortable) blanket.

Most online education is provided by legitimate institutions that reward hard work with a valuable degree. But some do lack regional accreditation, which can make it difficult to transfer credits or get employers to recognize your achievement. And a few are outright scams – often called “diploma mills” – that sell fake, useless degrees.

In the interest of keeping your money – or even more importantly, your lender’s money – out of the hands of these con artists, here are five signs that the institution you’re considering might be a diploma mill:

1. It is accredited by Bob’s Discount Accrediting Emporium. The seven regional U.S. accrediting bodies are the only accrediting organizations recognized by the U.S. Department of Education. They are the:

• Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools
• New England Association of Colleges and Schools
• North Central Association of Colleges and Schools
• Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities
• Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
• Western Association of Schools and Colleges (Community and Junior Colleges)
• Western Association of Schools and Colleges (Senior Colleges and Universities)

These associations do accredit online colleges and universities, as long they meet the same standards that are set for campus-based schools. But if a degree-granting institution instead touts credentials from some other group – or no group at all – then it almost certainly is not regionally accredited.

At best, non-accredited colleges and universities will provide you with credits that are very hard to transfer to other institutions, and credentials that many employers don’t consider legitimate. At worst they will take your money and give you nothing in return but a sham degree that is worth less than the paper it’s printed on.

Trade and vocational schools, which are not eligible for regional accreditation, are an exception to the “always choose a regionally accredited school” rule. They are typically certified by a national, field-specific accrediting body. Legitimate culinary schools, for example, are accredited by the American Culinary Federation Foundation Accrediting Commission.

2. There is no need to study, attend classes or take exams. Believe it or not, this is a common promise made by diploma mills. Instead of requiring you to do all of that annoying learning, they offer to grant you an online college degree based on “life experience” – which they’ll never bother to checking into, of course. To a diploma mill, the person who has spent the last 10 years running a business is no different from someone whose professional life is limited to hair-net-and-name-tag jobs. You send them your money, you get your fake degree. End of story.

3. It offers free express delivery. As a rule, legitimate colleges do not pride themselves on fast delivery. It’s one of the ways a real degree is different from, say, pizza.

4. You’re told you will earn more in a few short weeks. Gaining something valuable with little or no effort is the most common scam in the world – just check your email account’s spam bin. Diploma mills love to promise huge leaps in income and quick promotions for those who purchase their degrees, but they never deliver. Almost all major employers – and most smaller ones, too – are now aware of diploma mills and the worthless degrees they sell. Trying to pass off such fake credentials is likely to get you fired by your current employer rather than hired by a new one.

5. It claims you are pre-approved for financial aid. Approval for financial aid like Pell Grants and subsidized student loans comes from the government, not a school. No college or university can pre-approve you for this kind of assistance. When diploma mills and low-quality unaccredited schools advertise pre-approval, it means that they approve of you using your credit card, rent money and little brother’s piggy bank to pay them for a worthless degree.

Now, all that said, you should remember that there are many legitimate online degree programs out there. Even traditional on-campus students are now often encouraged to take a few courses online. The flexibility and affordability such programs offer can be a huge advantage, especially to adult learners who have family, work and other responsibilities.

Just make sure that the online school you choose is regionally accredited, and you should be okay. The degree you earn will have real workplace value, though it is unlikely to be delivered in 30 minutes or less.

*Learning on Demand: Online Education in the United States, 2009

Understanding Online Education and Choosing the Right Type of Program

Not all online college courses and web-based education programs are the same. Some use different tools and methods than others, and even those that use the same ones often do so in different ways. So once you’ve decided to study online, how do you determine which type of distance learning is right for you?

Continue reading How to Choose the Right Type of Online Education to learn about the different methods used in online learning and understand which is best for your situation. Read more now.

How to Know if You’d Be a Good Special Education Teacher

Thanks to medical advances and better awareness, children with disabilities are being diagnosed earlier and placed in educational programs that can maximize their potential. This has led to a greater demand for special needs teachers; the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics expects employment in the field to grow by 17% through 2018.

But how do you know if special education is the career for you? Here a five characteristics shared by almost all teachers who are successful in this field:

1. Certification. All 50 states and the District of Columbia require teaching certificates – attained by earning a bachelor’s degree in education and successfully passing the state’s teaching exam – to enter the field of special education. Most also insist on additional training geared toward instructing special needs children. Exactly what type of advanced education is necessary for licensure varies from state to state; some require certificate courses that take less than a year to complete, while others insist on a master's in special education that can take over two.

2. Patience. Many special needs children can learn at a normal pace – some even faster. However, those with certain disabilities can have a much harder time, taking weeks or months to master even simple tasks. Other special needs students have emotional problems that make learning difficult not only for themselves, but for others around them as well. Vast patience is essential for special education teachers when working with such students.

3. Stress management. Long workdays, near-constant administrative duties and students who can be extremely difficult on a daily basis make special education a challenging career. In order to be successful at it, you must be able to handle high stress levels and find ways to manage the personal and professional struggles that come with working in this field.

4. Commitment. Obviously, being a special needs teacher is not an easy job. And unfortunately, many positions in this field don’t pay as well as they should. In order to find lasting success in special education, you must be committed to the profession. Helping special needs children learn should be a reward for you in and of itself. If not, the financial compensation alone can seem insufficient considering the stress and difficulty inherent to the career.

5. Interpersonal skills. Special needs children often have a wide range of people working on their behalf. These can include parents, foster parents, other relatives or caregivers, state agencies, doctors, psychologists, social workers and more. You should be able to establish positive relationships with all such individuals and work closely with them to maximize your student’s learning potential.