Higher Education
For plenty of students in today’s world, a primary and a secondary education are merely instruments of getting into a college or a university. Students are required to complete these levels of education in order for them to qualify for admittance to an institution offering degrees in higher education.
Higher education is any of the levels of education pursued after finishing high school. This includes the various degrees and certifications offered by colleges and universities that require their students to have passed the secondary level of education.
Many students who have goals to enter a certain profession or work in a particular field will need a specialized degree. Post-secondary school courses include associate degrees, bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, doctorate degrees, as well as certifications granted in vocational and technical courses.
If a student wants to become a lawyer, for example, he has several options. He may want to get into an Associate of Arts degree program, which he will use as a transfer degree to get into a Bachelor of Arts program. Alternatively, he may just pursue the Bachelor of Arts program without getting an associate degree first. A bachelor’s degree is one of the prerequisites for getting into law school. Although people intending to go to law school usually get into a Bachelor of Arts program because a liberal arts orientation provides a good foundation for the legal profession, there are also benefits to choosing a Bachelor of Science program. Those who want to go to law school after getting their bachelor’s degree and who want to be admitted to a particular institution may want to find out what the school requires for entrance to their law school before enrolling in any pre-law degree program.
There are also different options for those who want to become doctors. These individuals usually enroll in Associate of Science programs before getting their Bachelor of Science degrees. A good foundation in the natural sciences is important for those intending to be accepted to a medical school. For this field, finishing with a Bachelor of Arts degree may not be a good idea because a liberal arts concentration does not prepare a student for what he will encounter in medical school. The same is true for the related course of nursing. Anyone who intends to get into nursing school will do well with a Bachelor of Science, rather than a Bachelor of Arts degree.
The field of education is a strong discipline for those who want to become elementary and secondary school teachers and college professors. There are Bachelor of Arts programs whose focus is on teaching for the elementary and secondary levels. Those who want to become college professors, on the other hand, usually major in the subject that they want to teach. For example, a person who wants to eventually teach mathematics may become a math major.
The person who is clear about what field he wants to work in has a definite edge over someone who does not. And if this clarity is in him by the time he graduates from high school, he is even in a better position to plan his future path of higher education.
