TOPEKA ? The glittery gold print on Cara Simon?s graduation cap begged ? maybe only half-jokingly ? for a break: ?Can I take a nap now??
Toilsome college coursework may have kept the Wichita native up at night, but looking for a job won?t. Simon lined one up at an emergency room before even graduating ? one of the benefits of earning a nursing degree.
?It?s so versatile,? she said. ?You can work in a million different places. You can work in any state. It?s exciting.?
College remains the single most reliable path to a lifetime of higher earnings. But burgeoning student debt and a job landscape transformed by computers and automation ratchet up the pressure on students to choose their majors wisely.
Good jobs to look at? Ones that involve high-level interpersonal work and skilled judgment in growing fields. For starters, nursing.
Over the next several years, nursing jobs are expected to grow twice as fast as others.
?Ten thousand Americans reach Medicare eligibility ? 10,000, every day,? said Monica Scheibmeir, dean of Washburn?s School of Nursing. ?We?ve never had to deal with that before.?
Washburn Nursing School lecturer Lara Rivera teaches students to spot health issues in newborn babies. SHOOTER IMAGING/CHRIS NEAL/KCUR.ORG
Pressure to choose right
Nursing student Hani Choi wrestled with whether to go to college and what to study before plunging into the four-year degree that she?ll finish in May.
?What am I getting myself into?? she recalls thinking. ?Is this worth it? Am I wasting my time??
She looked to nursing school. It offered a swift path to a fast-paced career with solid pay.
In Kansas, registered nurses earn, on average, nearly $59,000 a year. Experienced nurses can earn upward of $65,000. They can go back to school for graduate degrees that can pay off with six-figure incomes.
The average Kansas student attending a four-year college graduates with at least $27,000 in debt.
