Northeast Ohio has always been a tough job market. Unless you have a rich uncle -- it's paramount to have a solid strategy for your college education and career.
If you take the trouble to identify a top-paying occupation early in your college career, would you also want to know about where you can find a top-rated academic program, locally?
-- Or, would you also be interested in finding a top-rated program, locally and at the lowest cost?
Answering these questions may seem unwieldy.
You could define your "best fit" college by finding one that gives you a top education in a top paying, promising field. Of course, for most students, it's not quite that crystal clear. Your college lifestyle is also an important consideration.
In Ohio, Case Western Reserve University and The Ohio State University both offer a top rated program in Computer Science, according to both The Gourman Report and Rugg's Recommendations on the Colleges. (The Gourman report was acquired by The Princeton Review in 1997.)
Rugg's includes Denison University in its best Computer Science majors list in the "most selective" category.
Hiram College and Kent State University are also included, although considered by Rugg's to be "very", not "most" selective in admitting students.
Baldwin-Wallace College and Mount Union College also make the cut in the more general, "selective" category.
Majors in computer and information sciences, computer systems analysis, networking and telecommunications or information technology can leads to a position as network systems and data communications analyst, the best job for college graduates, as defined by Laurence Shatkin.
Shatkin and Michael Farr, authors of the "200 Best Jobs for College Graduates", say that Systems analysts design, test and evaluate systems such as intranets and local area networks. The average starting salary is $40,100 and there will be over 35,000 openings for them annually, through 2016.
Sources: Forbes, 1/9/09
Rugg's Recommendations on the Colleges, 2006
The Gourman Report, 1997
My mission is to empower youth with: - The knowledge about career possibilities, and the education and training needed to attain them - The creative-thinking and emotional skills that make for good career decisions and which employers prefer; - And the resilience needed to flourish in life.
