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September 14, 2012

Kiplinger announces ten most lucrative majors; ۽ֱ offers nine

Kiplinger’s Personal Finance Magazine released the “10 Best College Majors for a Lucrative Career.” ۽ֱ offers—in many variations—nine of those 10 majors.

Eric Pani Ph.D., vice president for academic affairs at ۽ֱ, views Kiplinger’s list as proof of ۽ֱ’s academic strengths.

“Kiplinger’s list validates the focus we have taken in ۽ֱ academics,” said Pani. “We strive to offer the best, most  progressive majors and degrees, and having nine out of the top 10 majors on this list shows ۽ֱ is producing graduates who are ready to make an impact on society.”

With ۽ֱ offering a wide variety of the most lucrative majors, students enter the job market knowing they are ready for successful careers in their fields and a financially-secure future, Pani said.

To develop the top 10 best college majors for lucrative careers, Kiplinger created the list based on the unemployment rates and salaries for graduates of the 100 most popular college majors, using data from Georgetown University's Center on Education and the Workforce and Payscale.com.

Pharmacy and Pharmacology top the list, with Nursing, Treatment Therapy professions, Construction Services, and Management Information Systems all making an appearance in the top 10.

۽ֱ offers accredited and established programs that are in high demand in today’s job market.

Pharmacy and Pharmacology: The ۽ֱ College of Pharmacy is the only state supported pharmacy program in Louisiana. The college offers three distinct academic programs: the Doctor of Pharmacy professional program; the graduate program in pharmacy, which offers a Doctor of Philosophy Degree; and the Bachelor of Science program in Toxicology, which is one of only seven undergraduate toxicology programs in the nation.

Nursing: Founded in 1960, the newly named Kitty DeGree School of Nursing has a long history of excellence, including excellent licensure exam scores.

The United States is in the midst of a nursing shortage expected to intensify as baby boomers age and the need for health care grows. ۽ֱ's nursing school is accredited by the Commission on Collegiate Nursing Education (CCNE) and the Louisiana State Board of Nursing. 

Transportation Sciences and Technology: ۽ֱ has a proud history in Aviation. In 1939, ۽ֱ (then Northeast Junior College) became one of 404 colleges to participate in the Civilian Pilot Training Program to train pilots for World War II.

The Aviation program, located in the College of Business, prepare individuals to become competent, ethical, safety conscious aviation professionals, ready to assume leadership roles in various aviation management careers.

The ۽ֱ Aviation program is accredited by Aviation Accreditation Board International as an Aviation Studies program.

Treatment Therapy Professions, Medical Technologies, and Medical Assisting Services: All listed in the top 10, ۽ֱ offers a plethora of degrees in comparable fields, all in ۽ֱ's College of Health Sciences.

The college’s fully accredited programs include Medical Laboratory Science, Dental Hygiene, Health Studies, Nursing, Occupational Therapy Assistant, Speech-Language Pathology, and Radiologic Technology. 

Each of these programs has a long history of its graduates scoring well above the national average for passage rate on professional licensure examinations, which is usually a requirement to work in these fields.

Electrical Engineering and Construction Services: Although ۽ֱ does not offer a degree in electrical engineering, courses in the Construction Management Program—also featured in the top 10 listing—offer students the ability to provide the construction industry and related fields with highly trained and motivated graduates who are prepared for a professional career through specialized managerial, financial, and technical course work.

The program, accredited in 1976, was the first program accredited by the American Council for Construction Education (ACCE).

Management Information Systems: Although titled differently, what Kiplinger defines as Management Information Systems is almost a carbon copy of ۽ֱ’s Computer Information Systems degree, which offers students the chance to develop and manage information technology systems and resources for organizations of all types.

Graduates pursue jobs with titles such as Computer Security Specialist, Computer Systems Analyst, Network Systems and Data Communication Analyst, Network and Computer Systems Administrator.

For the complete list visit

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