When we think of college, we often think only of the United States. However there are colleges across the planet, in every country and each country has its own statistics for how many people enroll in college. Generally, the number of people who enroll in college in their lifetimes is a good indication of just how developed the country is. The more developed countries with a higher standard of living have a larger college enrollment than those that are developing with a low standard of living.

First of all, college enrollment is going up. Roughly 57 percent of the young people on earth go to college, which is a whopping 20 percent increase over just 10 years ago.

Here is some information on what what is college enrollment like around the world.

Greece ranks the highest with 68 percent of its young people pursuing higher education. In fact Greece ranks a full 23 percent above the next highest, which is Belgium with 45 percent. The United States comes in third with 41 percent. The next highest is France and Ireland, who both have 38 percent to round out the top five. Canada comes in sixth with 36 percent, followed by Spain with 35 percent. Australia takes the number eight spot with 34 percent of its young people in post-secondary schools, while the United Kingdom and New Zealand round out the top ten with 33 percent and 31 percent respectively.

We will not go over the countries that have zero percent of their young people in higher education because there are several of them. The worst is Iceland with one percent. Denmark is a bit better with three percent, and Italy and Switzerland are in the bottom four with four and six percent. Germany rounds out the bottom five with either percent. The next five lowest are Sweden with 12 percent, Turkey with 13 percent, Norway with 13 percent, Mexico with 14 percent and Austria with 14 percent.

It should be noted that this is based on a per capita rate and does not mean that not everyone goes to college. This is simply the percentage of young people who go to college following high school. Some wait a few years before they go to college, especially in Europe.

photo credits: flickr.com/photos/29238644@N05/

Having a college degree was a requirement for the Baby Boom generation and while a degree is still important, in today’s workforce, employees are being judged for their abilities and not necessarily their credentials. If you don’t have a college degree or do not want to attend college, don’t make the mistake of thinking you will be earning minimum wage all your working life. There are opportunities out there just for you.

Do your homework. Search for work in fields where a degree is not a requirement. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, in the United States, eight out of the ten most rapidly growing professions until the year 2014 do not require a college degree. Many of these positions are in health technology, fire fighting and automotive repairs. The best thing about these positions is they are not likely to be outsourced

Improve your skills. Keep on learning. No matter where you are in life, you can always be better. Do not remain stagnant. Refuse to be satisfied with what you know. Learn constantly. Take a night class, an online class, read, exercise your brain. It is said if you study a particular subject one hour per day, in five years, you will become an expert in that subject.

Focus on the experience you do have. Include a section on your resume called “skill sets” instead of “education,” and mention all the technical abilities and training you have acquired throuigh the years in the workforce or trade schools and community college. Once you get in the door and are asked about your lack of a four-year degree, emphasize that you have equivalent work experience.

Do not ever be limited by the system. If you have a big dream for your life, do not allow anyone to deter you from pursuing it. You can do anything you set your mind to do.

Source: ehow.com

For years, I told friends and family that I wouldn’t go to college if it wasn’t required in order to practice law. When I decided that law wasn’t for me, I seriously considered giving up on college altogether.

My reasoning was fairly simple, though the reaction I get from most people is something along the lines of: “What? You can’t be serious! A college education is the only way to make money! People without degrees fail!” Heeding this fear-mongering myth, many students my age are spending $50,000+ each on their degrees; some will spend more with graduate and post-graduate studies. But is it worth it?

College has become a kind of a rat-race; the value of a degree is often based on social perception rather than concrete education. The nicer the college one is accepted to, the better one looks, the more likely one is to get a job — at least, thus goes the general belief. This is actually not entirely true, as we’ll be discussing in a bit.

College Isn’t Necessary for Most

Of course, a degree is sometimes necessary. Doctors, lawyers, engineers; many occupations require a degree. But you don’t need a business degree to get into business. You don’t need a degree in web design to get into web design. You don’t need a degree in philosophy to flip burgers. Just kidding!

Degrees can certainly be helpful, but for most it’s simply not needed. Jobs that require degrees are a minority, not a majority of jobs.

Bottom line: chances are, you don’t need a degree. But, in some industries, most individuals have one. The only question is: did the workers in the industry really need the degrees or did the workers just end up with one? This of course, begs another question…

What Are Employers Actually Looking For?

My father is a businessman, working years in sales and management. He worked his way from the bottom to the top, mastering every step of the journey until finally owning his own business, an oldies radio station in a resort community nestled in the Ozark Mountains.

While I worked in his office I had the opportunity to talk with several millionaires and a great many other successful businessmen. Small talk, when involving at least one teen, almost always gravitates toward the topic of college plans so it was no surprise when the topic came up with these individuals as well.

Surprisingly, nearly all of the successful people smirked at the idea that a college education is necessary to succeed in business. “Nobody,” they said, “cares if you went to Harvard. Your boss just wants to know: do you know how to do your job? If so, you’ll do fine. Period.” It’s no wonder that they had their position, as some had degrees in business, and couldn’t point to a single place where the degree was helpful.

As the old adage goes, “Good help is hard to find.” It’s true. In some regions, over-employment is wrecking havoc on businesses; there aren’t enough workers to go around. Any young individual who knows how to get the job will not be looking for a job.

This isn’t to say that unemployment isn’t also a problem. Any business owner or manager can tell you that it’s easy to have plenty of applications but few individuals with what it takes to get the job done up to standard. We may or may not have an unemployment problem, but there’s always going to be a shortage of great workers who desire excellence and apply themselves in everything they do.

Of course, having a degree can certainly help you even get the interview when applying for a job. More on that below.

Why Degrees Help Your Salary

There’s an incredibly strong correlation between having a degree and having a high paying job. Note: that’s a correlation. This doesn’t mean that the only reason those with a degree are getting paid more is actually the degree.

After all, who’s more likely to go to college and graduate with the degree, a self-starter or someone with little work ethic? The correlation is largely caused because self-starters are already more likely to attend college in the first place and would have been likely to succeed anyway.

Along those same lines, in order to understand exactly how a college education will help you earn more, we need to see when and how that happens. We know the degree probably isn’t going to magically give you a higher wage. We know the degree isn’t going to mean that you will master your profession; a degree won’t do the work for you.

The degree can increase your lifetime earnings by:

• Giving You an Interview – By opening up jobs that you wouldn’t have had the resume to otherwise even send in an application. Basically, a 4-year, $50,000-150,000 resume stuffer.

• Giving You “Experience” – By giving you knowledge of the field, you’re more likely to start with higher wages than someone without a degree. Basically, it gives you a head start. But is it a four-year head-start? That’s a gamble.

• Giving you the Access to the Field – Of course, there are some fields that one simply needs the degree to enter, period. Law and medicine are two classic examples.

It can’t be denied that college can be helpful and is often vital to getting a job in a highly competitive field. But looking at the actual root of this helpfulness can bring us to much cheaper and less risky alternative. Like what?

Several months ago I read the story of a budding businessman who wanted a job with a high-class firm that was simply out of his reach. But he got in. How did he do it? The same way you can: Offer to “intern”, free of charge, for a month. That’s an almost guaranteed way to land any job. It’s a way of getting past the “must pay employees” law that exists: offer to work for free.

Once your employer sees that you mean business (no pun intended), there’s no way they’ll let you leave. Think this sounds expensive? College is much worse. A month without pay might mean a $4,000 cost to you. College would take four years and at least $50,000, without scholarships.

Sometimes “oddball” alternatives get the same results with $40,000 and four years to spare.

Let’s Be Smart About This

A friend of mine recently told me the story from when she worked at McDonald’s back when she was still in high school. Someone came along and applied for a job. Under “educational experience”, the individual listed a 6 year degree in Calligraphy.

They hung the application on the wall and had quite a few chuckles.

They laughed because the degree was absurd and stereotypical. There are precious few things one can do with a degree in Calligraphy. Spending $50,000 was probably a bad choice. The individual could have simply learned the trade without the degree, and saved thousands.

Don’t go to a degree it isn’t necessary.  If it is necessary, and you can make your money back with a typical job in the field you’ll be getting your education in, then go for the degree. Just rationally analyze your situation, your goals and the necessity of the degree, and you’ll be fine.

Source.

A two-year college degree, often called an Associate’s degree, is often offered through junior colleges and community colleges. Many people shy away from this degree feeling it is too low, but the truth is that a two-year college degree can be a good stepping stone to further education.
There are several reasons why an Associate’s degree can be the perfect fit some people, including.

1. Since they’re faster than 4 year degrees you can get into your chosen field in less time.

2. You can start making money in your career sooner than someone who stays in college for 4 years.

3. Tuition costs are usually a lot lower, often being only $6,966 per academic year. This is in a large contrast to the $125,000 often spent for a doctoral degree.

4. Class sizes are often much smaller in the two-year degree program, allowing for more one-on-one education with students.

5. While a doctor may make more money, they do not start making money for as much as 12 years from when they first enter school. With an Associate’s degree, you are in and out of school in two years, and have 10 years to build your career to make ‘doctor’ money.

5. You can use your two-year degree to transfer to a Bachelor’s program later on. For those who do poorly in high school but want to get a better education afterwards, getting a two-year degree as a stepping stone for further education is a big benefit.

Two of the bigger drawbacks of this type of degree are the fact that you will be competing with others in your field, which may have a Bachelor’s degree. More often than not, employers choose Bachelor graduates. The other drawback is that Associate’s degree programs are usually not eligible for scholarships and grants.

As can be seen, the benefits of the Associate’s degree, or two-year program, outnumber the disadvantages. If you did not try hard in high school but now want to work harder for a better job, but can’t get into a larger college, then a two-year college program opens the door for you. With lower costs, less time and smaller classes, a two-year program is something that many people look at to see if they will like higher education, without having to pay too much.

Going to college is the dream of many high school students. The fact that those who get a degree in college make more money is not lost on anyone these days, but what percentage of American students actually go to college each year?
Well, things are getting better in that regard according to a recent study commissioned by USA Today. In 1990, 60 percent of all high school graduates went on to enter college. In addition, those aged 25 to 29 with Bachelor’s degrees rose from 23 percent to 29 percent.
Who goes to college depends greatly on the level of income of the family before college comes into the picture. Those who live in a low-income household are much less likely to go to college. Only six percent of low-income students earn a Bachelor’s degree by the time they are 24. In contrast, 51.3 percent of students from high-income homes go to college.

In terms of actual numbers, the United States ranks quite high for the number of people who attend college. One reason for this is the fact that the United States has the second highest number of higher education institutions in the world, with 5,758 in total, or 115 per state. The United States also has the highest number of higher education students in the world, with 18,248,128 students attending colleges. This represents about five percent of the American population.
In all, roughly 19.5 percent of the American population attended college but did not finish, 7.4 percent have an Associates degree, 17.1 percent have a bachelor’s degree and 9.9 percent have a doctorate or professional degree. This means that 53.9 percent of the American population has attended college to some degree or another, which represents over 150,000,000 people in the country.

As the years go by, more and more people go to college in an attempt to further their careers and increase their earning power. As more families move higher in the middle class, the number of students in college continues to increase. With grants, loans and more, nearly anyone can get to college if they work hard enough.

Often people wonder, what are the different types of college degrees out there. In the United States, at least since the latter-half of the 19th century, there has been a three-fold degree system for college degrees. These three degrees are Bachelor’s, Master’s and Doctorate. Within each of those are several small types of degrees that are earned. Depending on what a person’s major is in college, the degree that they earn will differ.

The most common academic degree is the four-year Bachelor’s degree and within that the most common degrees are the Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science. The other most common degree is the one to two-year master’s degree, which comes in the form of Master of Arts and Master of Science most commonly.
Apart from those, there is the Doctorate, which is often a Ph.D or Doctor of Philosophy. To get a doctorate in a field, it usually takes about ten years from the start of the Bachelor’s degree, which is usually at the age of 18.  Doctorate degrees are often earned for medicine or law.

Some schools, most usually junior and community colleges, offer four-year programs for associate’s degrees, which take two years to complete. The associate’s degree is often used towards the completion of a four-year Bachelor’s degree.

Only in the United States, there is a class of degrees called First Professional Degree, which are degrees for the professional practice in fields outside of academic scholarship. These degrees usually need a Bachelor’s degree in order to be admitted into the program and take between five to eight years to complete.

The shortest degree to earn, and often though of as the easiest, is the associates degree. The next highest is the Bachelor’s degree, followed by the Master’s degree. The Master’s degree is below the Doctoral degree, which itself is below the Professional degree, which is the highest academic distinction possible. The higher degree you get, the greater the earning power that you have. Usually someone with a Professional degree will make as much as $100,000 more a year than someone with an associates degree. Most people get a Bachelor’s degree, which is a middle of the road form of degree. The Bachelor’s degree represents a good income without a long time commitment.

The different types of college degrees can range from an Associates degree all the way up to a professional degree.  the degrees all differ in amount of time spent to earn it and the amount of money you can make once you graduate with it.

When going off to college most people find themselves thinking to themselves or sitting in a guidance counselor’s office saying “ I need help deciding what career to choose.”  If you are one of these people or if you feel this way then know that you are not alone.  Most people have trouble or need help deciding what career to choose. This is not uncommon.  Even after you decide what career to choose you may change your mind once you get into that chosen career.  the key is to find something that you are passionate about and use that as a guiding light to your career choice.

Often people get stuck in jobs or careers that they hate – making life a living hell for them. Studies show that majority of heart attacks take place on Monday mornings.  Why Mondays? Well it’s the day that most people return back to work. Other research tells us 1/3 of all employees hate their jobs. Finding out what you’re passionate about is absolutely necessary for your happiness.

There are many ways to find what you’re passionate about. One way is simply to take some time to brainstorm and write a long list of things that interest you.

In the beginning when you’re just starting to make your list, don’t think about things like how practical it is, or whether it’s going to make you any money or not – don’t think, just write.

Ask yourself these questions: Is there something you absolutely love doing?  What do you spend hours reading about? What’s your hobby? What do you like to talk/read/research about? What get’s your juices going? What are you excited about? What do you love so much, you’d do it for free? What did you like doing as a child?  What are you good at?  What were your favorite classes or subjects in high school? And if you’re in college now, what are your favorite classes now? As the answers to these questions and more come to mind, write them down.

Once you feel like you’ve completely exhausted your list you can stop brainstorming and  eventually you can begin to narrowing down your list to the top areas of interest for you. In narrowing down your list,  QuintCareer.Com suggests that you should “ find a couple of obvious themes running through them. Don’t rush this process… contemplate. Make a final list of potential jobs and career paths”.

Once you have a few select items on your list, begin to do some research on how those things that you love most can answer the dilemma of  I need help deciding what career to choose. Surf the Internet for possibilities, talk to people and ask them for ideas and suggestions. Find people either online or offline that are in related fields of your interest and quiz them about their fields and possibilities for a career choice.

Remember, there is always room for reevaluating your decision later on. In college you are allowed that trial and error period.   I would suggest talking to an advisor if you feel that you can’t figure it out and still need help deciding what career to choose.  There are all sorts of aptitude tests that can be taken to figure out what you are good at and what your interests are.  These tests will then take that info and relate it to a particular job field, from there you can pick a career that you feel best suits you.  These tests are not always on the money but for the most part they are pretty accurate in giving a general idea of what your interests are and helping you apply that to a career choice.  Your school counselor would be a perfect person to talk to about this.  There are a number of these tests available online as well, but I think that a face to face interaction with something as important as your future career is better.

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So when the question of  “I need help deciding what career to choose” pops into your head remember, think of something that you are passionate about and try to find a way to make money while doing it.

One of the biggest questions that hopeful medical school applicants will think about is how long before they start making money as a doctor. There are two reasons for this. The first is the fact that medical school takes between four and 12 years depending on the field that the person goes into. Then, there is the large debt incurred by the student while they are going to medical school. Added together, this means that while doctors get paid very well, it can be awhile before they start making money as doctors.

Roughly 20 years ago, the average debt of a medical doctor after they had completed residency was $25,000. However, in 2009, the average debt is a staggering $154,067 and 11 percent of students have debt over $250,000.

What does this mean for someone wanting to become a doctor? Well, during residency, a doctor will typical earn $34,000 to $46,000 per year. A large portion of that is going to go to paying off student loans from medical school. Depending on training, it is possible for a doctor to make in excess of $100,000 per year early on, which allows them to pay off their debt earlier.

On average, it takes between four to five years to pay off the debts incurred during medical school, which is extremely good considering the amount that a student has to pay out while they are in medical school. The main reason for this is because of the high pay doctors get once they are out of residency and into the world of being a doctor.

So, how long before a doctor starts to make money? Well, if you take an average of eight years of schooling, a few years of residency, and then put in the few years it takes off to pay off the debt, a doctor is not making a lot of money until as much as 10 to 15 years following enrolling in medical school. Again, this depends greatly on the medical field they go into and how much debt they incurred going to school.

Nobody says it is easy to get into medical school. In fact, getting into medical school is probably one of the hardest things you will ever have to do in your life. The main reason is because there are a lot of people who want to get to medical school, but the selection process is very strict to ensure only the best of the best get into school.

First of all, your grades will be looked at and assessed by the selection committee. One good thing about this is that they look for an upward trend in your grades. If you did not do great your first year of high school, but steadily improved over the next few years, then you can still get into medical school.

Second, you need to get letters of recommendations for medical school. If you went to a community college, then get some recommendations from your professors. Otherwise, you need to get recommendations from teachers or professionals that you have worked with, or volunteered with.

One of the most important things that you need to to consider if you’re wondering how hard is it to  get into medical school is to apply early. If you wait too long, you are going to end up having to wait until the following year. Medical schools select who will be enrolling very early on, which is something you will have to do if you want a shot at medical school.

It is important to note that getting into medical school is not easy. Only about 15 to 20 percent of those who apply to medical school in a given year actually get into the school. This means that even if you think you have great grades and even a letter of recommendation, you are not a sure thing to get in. You need extra curricular activities in order get into the school, especially volunteering for first aid courses, EMT and more.

Simply put, it is difficult to get into medical school, but it is not impossible. Start working early to fulfill your dream of being a doctor and see where your future takes you.

An archeologist is someone who studies about different kinds of people and things they did in the past from the artifacts that they left behind.  Examples of artifacts that archeologists study can be a variety of things such as  beads and arrowheads made by Native Americans or or old coins left behind by an ancient civilizations.

When working on a site, an archaeologist uses many tools such as compasses and maps to find various locations. And to dig,  He or she  uses shovels and picks  to dig small areas of dirt at a time.  Additionally, they are very careful about recording everything they find and where they find them.

However, if you are thinking of becoming an archeologist yourself, it’s not as simple as just going out and finding some dirt to dig in! To be able to get funding for trips around the world so you can excavate cities, burial plots and more, you need to have some experience and training behind you.

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Depending on the field of archeology you are going into, the education requirements are going to be different. For example, some archeologists are what we call avocationals – they do it in their spare time as a hobby.  Avocational archeologists learn a lot about the field by by reading up on the subject. They also more become members of archeological associations or societies.

But if you are going to get an undergraduate degree in archeology, then you will be trained in all the ancient and classic civilizations. If you want to work as a field archeologist, then you need to have a major in at least anthropology or history and a Bachelor of Arts or Science.

There are two levels of graduate training for archeology. The first one is a Master of Arts or Master of Science degree that adds about one to two years of schooling on top of the schooling for the Bachelor’s degree. At the end, a written thesis that is based on original research must be presented.

The second graduate degree is a professional degree. This requires two to three years of extra schooling on top of the Master of Art or Science degree. So, if you want to get a PhD, you will need as much as nine years of schooling. Once you have completed the schooling, you need to write a dissertation that contains original research in your specialization in archeology.

As you can see, if you’re wondering what does an archeologist study, then you can see that there is a lot involved depending on what you want to do and where you want to go in the field. Now go out there and find some dirt to dig in!