At Pearson Accelerated Pathways, we believe your college experience should empower you to pursue your goals, advance your career and live your life – not burden you with debt or chain you to a campus.
But how does it work? How do we help you graduate from the college of your choice, but at a lower cost?
Check out these five easy steps!
Step 1 – Academic Advising
Just complete a short assessment, and an academic counselor will reach out to discuss your goals, timetable, learning style, budget and more.
Our counselors are experts at understanding all types of academic options that fit any unique situation, such as prior credits earned, time restrictions, special learning needs and more.
Step 2 – Degree Plan
After learning your unique situation, your academic counselor will use Pearson’s advanced proprietary technology to evaluate thousands of college and degree options. They’ll find five degree options that best fit your goals, budget and schedule.
You’ll get a college options report of these degree options in a side-by-side comparison. You can even request specific schools be included in this comparison.
Your academic counselor will carefully walk you through each degree option so you can consider important factors like time to completion, total cost, prior credit transfer and much more.
Step 3 – Take Courses
Once you make your college and degree selection, you’ll get access to the Degree Manager™. This is your personalized learning portal where you can access your degree plan, register for courses, take courses and track your progress.
With the Degree Manager™, college is simple. You’ll always know exactly what courses to take, when to take them and how much they’ll cost.
In fact, this is how we save you money. Our general education courses are 36% less than the national average. There are no campus fees and no hidden costs. Even the books are included.
Plus, we’re here for you with world-class coaching the whole way!
Step 4 – Transfer
Once you earn the maximum number of general education credits from Pearson, then just transfer to your college to complete your degree.
All credit you earn through Pearson Accelerated Pathways is regionally accredited (unlike many of our competitors) and guaranteed to transfer into your college. We even help you prepare official transcript(s) for your destination college.
Step 5 – Graduate
Simply complete any remaining courses from your destination college until graduation. Typically, this will involve finishing your last 30 credits (or about ten classes) with the college that is granting your degree.
Then… voilà! You’re a debt-free college grad. Congratulations!
Ready to get started?
At Pearson Accelerated Pathways, we love helping students earn their degree at a lower cost. With course options 30-50% less than the national average, we save you hundreds of dollars on every college credit. Our top-notch advising ensures you never take a course you don’t need, plus you get the freedom to pay as you go. Ready to graduate on your terms? Whether you’re earning an associate’s, bachelor’s or higher, we make it easy. Get started today!
Choosing an online college can be tricky.
Plenty of institutions offer amazing deals for online courses that seem too good to be true. And some are. When choosing to spend time and money on your education, it’s important to know that you’re making a wise investment.
While some schools offer national or special accreditation, regional accreditation is the most stringent and widely recognized. In fact, 85% of colleges and universities recognize regional accreditation. Non-profit schools (like Princeton and Yale) and state schools (like the University of Michigan or Texas A&M) all abide by regional accreditation standards.
This means when you take online courses that are regionally accredited, they’re recognized and accepted across a broad spectrum of educational institutions as quality learning. Therefore, your hard-earned college credit from a regionally accredited school can transfer to almost any college or university of your choice.
What is accreditation?
Accreditation shows the level of consistency in educational quality. To earn accreditation, schools must undergo a stringent review process and meet a set of academic standards involving faculty quality, student learning, professional outcomes and level of data-based research.
There are several types of accreditations:
Regional
Regional accreditation is considered the gold standard for the majority of college degrees. There are six regional accrediting agencies, and each serves a specific geographic region of the United States. They accredit post-secondary institutions and primary and secondary schools. Each of these agencies is primarily concerned with the accreditation of academic, non-profit schools, rather than specialized technical or vocational schools.
National
National accreditation typically applies to specialized vocational schools, technical schools, religious institutions or for-profit schools such as The Art Institute. This kind of accreditation accounts for less than 6% of all schools. Regionally accredited institutions are reluctant to accept transfer credits from nationally accredited institutions, mainly because they haven’t met the stringent standards of faculty qualifications, library resources and other guidelines.
Special and other
There are other types of accreditations for certain types of degrees. In addition, there are college credit recommendation and evaluation services, like the American Council on Education's College Credit Recommendation Service (ACE® Credit), that evaluate and recommend college credits. For example, the Distance Education Accrediting Commission (DEAC) is a private, non-profit organization that evaluates distance education curriculum.
Some educational institutions may recognize credit recommendations from these varying institutions. However, unless your college credit is regionally accredited, it will have a lower chance of transferring into regionally accredited colleges and universities.
Regional accreditation is better. Period.
Accreditation will gauge not just the quality of the educational credit you’ll receive, but also the transferability. Regional accreditation is the most rigorous type of accreditation, and therefore the most widely accepted.
If you want to knock out general education courses and then transfer that credit to the college of your choice, regional accreditation is the way to go. The last thing you’ll want is to be stuck with is a bunch of lost credit (plus time and money) that you can’t use toward your bachelor’s degree (or master’s or Ph.D. if you decide to pursue higher education someday). Nothing can be more frustrating than taking a step backward and having to repeat course material.
The accreditation level of your credit institution should match the accreditation level of your prospective college, so—to be safe—always check that the courses you’re taking come from a regionally accredited institution.
How do I know if my school is regionally accredited?
To find out if your school is regionally accredited, visit the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) website. Here you’ll find links to all six regional accreditation institutions and can discover if your school is accredited by one of the recognized accrediting agencies.
Does Accelerated Pathways offer regionally accredited courses?
All our courses are regionally accredited through our partner colleges. We've successfully mapped courses to over 2,000 colleges and universities. In fact, the courses you take through Accelerated Pathways are guaranteed to transfer into your target college. We offer a money-back guarantee plus an additional $1,000 to compensate you for time invested in your coursework if your courses do not transfer!
Being an active-duty member of the military comes with certain perks that you’ll want to take advantage of while you can. If you’re enlisted in the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines or Coast Guard, you’re entitled to tuition assistance from your branch. Information on how each of the individual military services sets tuition assistance rates can be found at the Defense Activity for Non-Traditional Education Support (DANTES) website, but it’s typically a substantial amount and well worth using while you’re on active duty.
But I have military experience. Why do I need a college degree?
Some who enlist in the military serve for their entire careers; however, the majority of service members transition to civilian life, where a college degree can strongly benefit their chances for success in the workforce. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics consistently shows that education is a wise investment regardless of background and experience. Data compiled of workers aged 25+ proves that the more you learn, the more you earn. In fact, bachelor’s degree holders earn an average of $26,104 more per year than high school diploma holders.
And while it’s true that military training can prepare you for many useful roles, college coursework can expand your horizons in other areas, particularly those applicable to commercial markets and industries. Many colleges have career services and curricula that offer internships, hands-on projects and other integrated job prep programs that give you a head-start on your career path. Even if you plan to stay in the armed forces, earning a degree can be an advantage as you move up the ranks. Commissioned officers are typically required to have a four-year college degree in addition to good leadership, communication, conflict resolution, time management and other soft skills that can be fine-tuned in college. In general, earning a degree can help you expand your future opportunities within the military or upon entering the civilian workforce.
College can also be helpful for many service members who struggle to make the shift from military to civilian life. By earning a degree, the transition becomes much smoother. You’ll make connections and stay tapped into the world outside of military service. And with a degree, you’ll have more desirable and even exciting job opportunities available once you’re ready to join civilian life. Military service is already a bonus for most job applicants, but many will find that the best positions require a college degree. Job applicants with both a college degree and military experience place themselves above the pack of candidates who have just one or the other. By combining a degree with military experience, you can greatly increase your chances of finding gainful employment and exciting opportunities in your preferred role and career path.
By taking advantage of your military tuition assistance benefits, you’ll be working toward a better, smarter you. Earning a degree not only serves as a bridge between your military and civilian life but can also help you develop lasting connections, deeper insights and marketable knowledge that you may not gain elsewhere. Whether you’re interested in learning about the business side of commerce, entrepreneurship, management, marketing, finance, budgeting and economics or something more technical, college is a great place for you to explore, learn and grow in areas that youwant to develop. You’ll have a greater ability to discover your interests, become more independent, invest in yourself and choose your own path – rather than have it chosen for you.
How do I get started?
At Pearson Accelerated Pathways, we love to help our military members succeed. That’s why we offer a 10% discount on tuition for active-duty military. We’ve helped thousands of service members find the flexibility they need to attend college – no matter where they’re based.
Our courses are self-paced to work with your active-duty schedule. We coach you the whole way through, starting with a personalized College Options Report that shows you how much we can save you in addition to your military tuition assistance. All you need is a laptop and internet connection. Get started today!
HR professionals know the struggle of selecting and organizing training for an entire staff of employees. There are tons of factors to consider in attempting to maximize and allocate a learning & development (L&D) budget. At the top of the list is choosing whether it’s better to provide training in-house or through an external education partner.
As more companies look to stay competitive by upskilling and reskilling employees, it’s worthwhile to consider the advantages and disadvantages of the different skill development approaches. The decision to train in-house vs. outsource is more important than many realize as it can affect the future growth and success of an organization. So, let’s give it some careful consideration.
In-house Training
In-house or on-the-job training is the most common type of directly provided training offered by employers because it can easily be blended into tasks workers already carry out as part of their jobs. This type of training can be applied to onboarding, provided throughout a worker’s tenure or delivered for specific occupation transitions. Organizations that develop in-house training programs typically have an internal team dedicated to development, for example, an apprenticeship program that combines classroom training provided by senior staff.
Pros
Specific: In-house training is delivered by people who know your company and its needs. Training will be relevant to your specific requirements and in compliance with your internal strategy, corporate goals, market positioning and even branding. Plus, an in-house training team has a greater interest in the final program outcome and success of the company.
Customizable: When training is provided in-house, it’s customizable at the local level. This means the syllabus can target exact requests for learning and foster knowledge transfer between employees. There’s greater control over development and changes/updates can be quickly adapted.
Confidential: In-house development avoids sharing confidential data with an external company. You won’t have to provide proprietary data to outside training designers, courseware developers, educators and other potential hazards to intellectual property and cybersecurity protocols.
Cons
Not employee-centric: In-house training is usually company-specific and doesn’t provide employees with the types of flexible degree and certificate programs they seek to advance their careers. Their learning will be limited to the company knowledge base, which may result in a lack of innovation and fresh ideas for the company and its ability to stay competitive in the marketplace.
Expensive: Although some believe in-house L&D is cheaper to administer, others find it to be more expensive. For organizations without an in-house L&D team, hiring a development team can be costly as it requires new software, authoring tools, studio environments, etc. These tools and licensing fees come with a high price tag, so building your own Learning Management System on a tight budget may not be the best idea.
Time-intensive: In-house learning and development require lots of time to plan, approve and deliver, not to mention the efforts required to train and maintain a team of project managers, instructional designers, courseware developers, trainers and more. Some organizations simply don’t have the resources or budget required to produce good results.
Outsourced Education
Many employers work with educational institutions or partners to develop programs specific to their needs or to offer training for high school completion programs, English-language training programs, higher education degrees and more. These types of programs help workers advance to jobs higher on career ladders and/or to enroll in postsecondary education programs. This skill-building strategy can also involve employers covering the costs (either fully or partially) of programs provided by education and training institutions, either online or onsite at those institutions’ locations.
Pros
Expertise: With an external education partner, you’ll have access to their client services, expert trainers, academic advisors and other higher education experts. They’ll have a fully developed learning platform that may be customizable to your specific learning needs. In addition, they may be able to integrate your training into a Learning Management System that allows you to track who is taking your courses, who has completed your courses, which skill gaps are being filled and other useful data.
Fresh perspectives: The workplace is ever-changing, and training is necessary to keep pace. Even the best in-house training programs can quickly become outdated when trying to keep up with changes in the industry. External educational institutions have experts and insiders who stay current on changes in automation and technology, especially as work becomes increasingly remote and digital. They’ll have course offerings based on the latest advancements and forecasts into the future of work that can give your employees fresh perspectives and insights your internal staff may lack.
Recruitment & retention: Education benefits are becoming one of the most popular workplace perks. As college costs have skyrocketed in the U.S., so has the popularity of education benefits like tuition reimbursement, tuition assistance and employer-sponsored scholarships. More than ever, job seekers are looking for companies with great education benefits that will help them advance in their careers and invest in their futures. By partnering with an education institution, your company can offer the kind of official certifications and degree programs that appeal to employees. In turn, this will allow you to retain and advance your workers as they upskill, reskill and complete their education programs.
Cons
Onboarding: Outsourcing involves taking time to onboard a new partner and get them up to speed on projects and goals that align with your company’s mission and needs. You’ll have to dedicate more time to teaching an external team who isn’t familiar with your business products, services and model.
Disconnect: With an external partner, you may experience less collaboration and more physical distance, which can lead to a disconnect between what you want vs. what is provided. It’ll be important to do your homework and ensure the educational partner you choose is dedicated to your mission.
Non-specific training: While external education institutions can offer a broader range of learning programs, they may not be focused on the specific subjects and skills that are relevant to your business. Their courses may be too generic and unable to address your company’s issues using real-life examples. That means employees may not learn how to solve specific work problems that relate directly to their roles.
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As you can see, you’ll need to make some tough decisions in determining whether it’s better to develop and administer your own training programs in-house or to bring in an outside company. Ultimately, if you only need to train employees to address a few isolated, well-defined skills, it makes sense to develop your own programs in-house. If you’re looking for a robust educational offering and the ability to offer tuition assistance as a benefit, then an external education partner will likely be your best bet.
Certain employee benefits make a business more attractive than others. And while good pay and health benefits usually rank highest among the perks most desired by employees, other benefits have gained popularity in recent years. NetSuite looked at the top employee perks and benefits of 2021 and found that online learning and educational assistance were rated among the most popular. Bright Horizons also found that tuition reimbursement programs now outrank paid sick leave and retirement benefits as a perk.
Employers can also benefit from a more educated workforce. By investing in upskilling and reskilling, companies gain knowledge that benefits their operations and keeps them competitive over the long-term. A two-year study by the Lumina Foundation showed that education reimbursement programs have a 129% return on investment. That means for every dollar a company invests, it generates an additional $1.29. Furthermore, employers that offer educational assistance also benefit from easier talent acquisition, better employee productivity and hefty tax breaks. Section 127 of the US tax code allows employers to deduct over $5,000 per employee per year in tuition reimbursement.
While education perks aren’t new to employee benefits packages, the offerings are becoming more robust and increasingly targeted to a wider audience. Instead of just focusing on employees who want to pursue advanced degrees, many tuition programs are now targeting workers who never went to college in the first place. For frontline workers, that means not choosing between earning a living vs. earning a degree. They can do both and avoid going into heavy debt.
This kind of win-win advantage is driving more job seekers to pursue companies that offer the best education benefits. Younger job seekers, in particular, are purposefully seeking out employers who will help pay for college tuition. Plenty of online content, message boards and other resources have been created to help them research companies with great education benefits. Blogs like “Taking Advantage of Your Employer’s Education Benefits”, “36 Companies That Pay For College” and “50 Companies with Amazing Tuition Reimbursement Programs” are a sure-fire sign that education as a benefit is not just a passing fad.
Want to step up your company’s education benefits package to be more competitive in the marketplace? We have just the solution! Pearson Accelerated Pathways works as a partner with your organization—from inception to design—to implement educational strategies that meet the needs of your unique workforce. We administer the right programs that appeal to employees by focusing on their specific needs and best pathways to success. Learn more about our employee-approved education benefits programs today!
Did you know that helping your employees understand and navigate career advancement pathways within your organization is critical to retaining a talented workforce? Studies have shown that employers who don’t offer advancement opportunities for workers, particularly in low-wage jobs, will find difficulty in hiring and retaining talent—not to mention in maintaining a happy staff and positive work culture.
This opportunity gap in the workplace has been amplified during the pandemic, as many workers are not returning to work as expected due to wage stagnation and lack of advancement opportunities. In June 2021, the job opening rate was 6.5%—the highest it’s been since the U.S. Department of Labor began tracking the number in 2001.
A recent study by SPR found that organizations with higher retention rates tend to set clear career pathways and help employees navigate them. Top organizations typically set specific internal goals for advancement (for example, 50% of managers will be promoted from within), and they also implement coaching or mentoring programs to nurture and encourage career development from within.
To ensure your business retains its top talent, here are four best practices (and examples) you can use to help workers navigate internal career pathways:
1. Clearly document career advancement pathways
Businesses should develop clear information about pathways to advancement within the organization. Human resources can look for measures and controls for career advancement and then develop documentation with standards that are fair and transparent across the board. Criteria used to assess employee promotion to the next level should be easily accessible to staff at all levels.
For example: One manufacturer developed a career navigation application for employees that provides a line of sight into career pathways and allows employees to focus on skills they want to develop. Information specific to their position and skill set is also mapped to possible career advancement opportunities.
2. Prioritize and communicate internal advancement
Organizations should work to prioritize promotion from within by clearly communicating the availability of advancement pathways and new job opportunities. This can be done through email, in one-on-one conversations, by putting up flyers or using other internal communication methods. Employees feel valued and prioritized if they know new job openings are posted internally before being advertised outside of the company. Supervisors can also reach out directly to workers who may be targeted for promotion or be a good fit for a specific position. Overall, employees should be well-informed and fully aware of advancement options open to them.
For example: One retailer hosted an open-house fair where management from different departments met with frontline workers to talk about their skills and interests and discuss which career pathways were available based on their specific goals.
3. Create opportunities for career advancement via training programs
Educational program curricula should make clear the connection between training and the company’s internal career advancement pathways. Workers should know what to expect after completing the training (for example, how the training is linked to a raise or a promotion). In some cases, training programs can be clearly connected to promotions or pay increases at predetermined levels. This not only helps the employee; employers can significantly lower costs of recruiting and gain positive long-term outcomes by educating and training their workforce.
For example: A hospital was having trouble hiring lab technicians, so it designed a training program to upskill incumbent employees to fill those positions. Doing so created a new career advancement pathway, cut recruiting costs and established an internal talent pipeline for the hospital.
4. Employ staff whose specific function is to support career advancement
Direct supervisors play an important role in encouraging advancement within an organization. However, many companies have found that employing staff dedicated to helping workers achieve their career goals can be far more beneficial. A point person, such as a career navigator or mentor, can focus solely on assisting workers to determine what training is most appropriate for their career goals. They can also help to find funding (whether employer contribution, loans or grants) to pay for that training. This dedicated staff can be part of internal human resources or employed by outside vendors hired by the company.
For example: At one insurance company, workers can seek mentorship outside their department if they have an interest in exploring other areas. This employee mentoring program provides them with guidance and support about how to advance within the company and helps them to meet with teams in other departments or units who may have openings.
As The Great Resignation persists, employee retention remains a top priority for many businesses. By helping employees navigate clearly mapped career pathways—through documentation, communication, training and other supports—organizations can gain an advantage in the war on talent.
At Pearson Accelerated Pathways, we understand that best-in-class organizations do not adopt and implement these strategies one at a time or in isolation. That’s why we work to align with your company culture and capacity to provide a holistic approach to employee retention and advancement. We have a proven track record of upskilling workforces and helping organizations build an internal talent pipeline for the future of work. Learn more about how we can offer your employees advancement opportunities and custom career pathways through learning and education.
Frontline workers are the first point of contact for your customer. Their knowledge and performance have a pivotal impact on your business and how it represents its values and mission. As such, there’s no question about the importance of keeping your frontline staff happy. Not only are happier employees more productive, but they also offer better service and improved customer loyalty.
Simply put, happy frontline workers make happy customers.
Employees who feel motivated and engaged add more value than employees who feel demotivated and disengaged. So, how do you keep your workers happy, particularly at a time when turnover is at an all-time high? We’ve examined approaches from best-in-class employers and believe there are three secrets to success.
1. Invest in employee health and wellbeing
Did you know that workplace health and wellbeing is one of the main drivers of workforce productivity? According to the American Psychological Association, the top components to workplace wellbeing are work-life balance, health and safety and employee growth and development. Effective employers understand these components and view their employees in a more holistic sense—as opposed to just laborers who perform necessary tasks. They see their staff as part of a wider system of communities, cultures and systems that affect their overall health and wellbeing.
Workplace wellbeing considers both the physical and mental states of employees. Physical wellbeing at work includes things like temperature, ergonomics and safety, whereas mental wellbeing regards areas like stress, negativity and anxiety. The more an employee’s physical and mental wellbeing is compromised, the worse their output. As such, many employers actively promote workplace wellbeing programs that build community and improve environmental conditions.
To improve physical wellbeing, employers can improve facilities or design spaces for employees to gather socially, like a ping pong table, a walking path outside the office or an informal seating area. But just as important as the environmental space is the workplace culture. No one will want to use a communal space if they know it’s frowned upon by management. There’s a multitude of do’s and don’ts for building a positive workplace culture, but here’s a basic rule of thumb: think of ways to make workers at all levels of the organization feel valued and heard. Brainstorming with staff can be a great way to decide on what type of benefits or activities make your team feel most valued.
2. Invest in supportive leadership
Another way to keep frontline workers happy is to invest in leadership that’s both supportive and responsive to their team’s needs. According to Indeed, “Supportive leadership is an important and valuable leadership style for businesses. Not only does it foster positive relationships between employees, but it also ultimately empowers team members to develop their professional skills and work well autonomously or with little active management and guidance.” In fact, a shift in leadership roles is evolving across industries as companies find that people-focused leaders can obtain better results than profit-focused leaders.
For most workers, feeling appreciated, compensated and supported goes a long way. People-focused leaders and supervisors have the first-hand capacity to encourage, inspire and teach others on their team. They also play significant roles as champions (or gatekeepers) in the promotion and advancement process. By considering opportunities for promoting those on their team, supervisors can nurture growth and encourage advancement within an organization. These leaders can also affirm and express their support of employees by educating them about career pathways, encouraging them to participate in educational opportunities and helping them develop leadership skills.
By recruiting and investing in supportive leaders, businesses can reduce stress and frustration in the workplace while also increasing productivity. To identify leaders who fit with your company’s mission, look for candidates with self-awareness and emotional intelligence who can understand when to offer care, attention and guidance to their team. With most employees wanting to experience a sense of belonging in the workplace, finding supportive leaders who create a space where others want to spend their time can be one of your most valuable assets – particularly in frontline, customer-facing environments.
3. Invest in training and education
While premium benefits packages can help employers attract and retain talent, they can also be costly to implement and administer. However, with educational benefits—like tuition assistance and tuition reimbursement—the results can often outweigh the initial costs of providing learning assistance. Research from the Lumina Foundation suggests that providing learning benefits not only reduces turnover, it helps to boost the national goal for Americans with college educations, which is currently lagging.
With increasing automation in the workplace, more remote working, higher demand for vocational skills and the huge disruption and acceleration caused by COVID, the need for lifelong education and upskilling has never been more pressing. According to the CDC, this ultimately ties into a worker’s wellbeing as a more broadly prepared field of workers is less stressed and better positioned to pivot to new solutions or quickly adapt to technological changes.
Employees are aware of changing job market pressures and increasingly desire the training needed to advance in their careers. By offering educational benefits to frontline workers, companies can see more engagement, optimized productivity, improved customer satisfaction and the ability to stay competitive in their market. Many business leaders have identified talent-driven innovation as the primary determinant of competitiveness.
As businesses across industries look for ways to keep their workers happy, they’ll find that investments in employee health and wellbeing, supportive leadership and training and education programs will better equip them to retain a positive, productive, future-proof workforce. At Pearson Accelerated Pathways, we’re uniquely positioned to help businesses invest in their frontline workers by providing flexible degree plans and post-secondary options as strategic educational benefits. Our learning programs are online, flexible, completely personalized and cost effective. Find out how we can enable your staff to drive their success and enrich their lives through learning.
Does your workforce have the job skills needed to keep you competitive in your industry?
In a recent West Monroe survey of HR professionals, 56% of respondents said their organization’s skills gap is moderate to severe. This is especially true for organizations undergoing digital transformation and adapting to future trends. As automation grows, it’s becoming increasingly important to ensure workers can handle higher-value work. In fact, a ManpowerGroup survey found that by 2022, 54% of workers will need significant reskilling or upskilling as their current job skills become outdated.
With a tightening talent market and higher demand for emerging skills sets, companies are finding it more advantageous to reskill their workforce rather than rehire. According to Mike Howell, Chief Strategy Officer at Pearson, “The world of work is changing faster than most workers are evolving. With increasing automation in the workplace, more remote working, higher demand for vocational skills and the huge disruption and acceleration caused by COVID, the need for lifelong reskilling and upskilling has never been more pressing.”
Industries such as healthcare, hospitality and retail also stand to benefit from upskilling frontline workers. According to Kevin Oakes, CEO of i4cp, “The opportunity for positive bottom-line impact through frontline worker development is significant as it impacts those who often work most closely with an organization's customers.” Retail is a critical sector of the economy, with 16 million workers, yet this sector also faces some of the highest turnover rates. The result is millions of Americans missing out on opportunities for career advancement and income growth. By building talent from within, retail employers are finding that they can lower costs up to six times compared with recruiting while also gaining positive long-term outcomes, such as improved employee and customer experience.
As work across industry sectors continues to evolve, employers who invest in training and education will become more qualified to handle the future of work, which can yield higher earnings for both the individual and the organization. Providing educational programs to frontline workers can also boost a company’s status as an employer of choice - one that values learning and investment in human capital. While premium benefits packages can be costly to implement and administer, educational benefits—like tuition assistance and tuition reimbursement—have become increasingly popular as the results can outweigh the initial costs of providing upskilling assistance.
At Pearson Accelerated Pathways, we help companies maximize their learning and development funds to train and retrain their global workforce with skills gaps they urgently need to fill. We work with HR leadership to provide academic options for everyone on the organization chart—from frontline employees to executives. Through our advanced network of academic partners, we offer low tuition rates and customized program offerings that meet your talent development needs. Learn how we can future-proof your workforce.
Good news for psychology majors! The U.S. Department of Labor says the job outlook for psychologists shows steady growth over the next decade. While a Ph.D. can get you far in the mental health field, those with a B.A. or B.S. in psychology can still find excellent opportunities working in hospitals, schools, private businesses, non-profit organizations, social service agencies, mental health centers and more. In fact, the Bureau of Labor Statistics also sees job growth potential for psychology majors as assistants in rehabilitation centers and in other occupations involving data collection and analysis.
If you’re pursuing a bachelor’s degree in psychology and wondering what job opportunities exist for you right out of college, here are some careers to consider.
Psychiatric Technician
Do you like helping those experiencing mental disorders or developmental disabilities? If so, you can work as a psychiatric technician providing care to patients in a variety of settings including group homes, residential treatment centers, hospitals and nursing homes. Your duties would involve observing patient behavior, monitoring vital health signs, teaching life skills, conducting applied therapy sessions and helping with basic needs. You’d need a solid background in abnormal psychology, clinical psychology and psychology of personality to understand the various conditions afflicting psychiatric patients. You’d also need to be able to carefully follow instructions for patient care provided by psychiatrists, so good comprehension and communication skills will also be important as you establish rapport with both patients and doctors.
Psychiatric technicians play a pivotal role in helping patients cope with their mental health conditions as they are often the first in line to encounter issues as they arise. Psychology majors who hope to work as psychiatric technicians or aides should try to get internships working with patients in a clinical setting prior to graduation to see if this type of role is right for them. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, employment for psychiatric technicians is predicted to grow 12% through 2028. In fact, there are indications that this trend will increase even more as our growing older population will require more psychiatric assistance. Growth is also forecast for psychiatric technicians in residential settings, especially in substance abuse treatment. Residential and community-based treatment centers are becoming increasingly popular as effective options for addiction rehabilitation. A bachelor’s in psychology qualifies most candidates for work as psychiatric technicians, however some employers may also require a postsecondary certificate.
Counselor
Do you like helping others work through difficult problems in a personal one-on-one setting? Counseling could be right for you. Counselors help people suffering from an array of difficulties – from addiction to behavioral disorders – by offering guidance, treatment and advice. Specialties include drug abuse counselors (who work with clients struggling with substance abuse and addiction), youth counselors (who work with troubled youth on personal growth and development), rehabilitation counselors (who help to promote healing and wellness in rehabilitation facilities), in-home behavioral counselors (who provide behavioral planning and support to families in crisis) and mental health counselors (who treat clients with a variety of conditions, like anxiety and depression).
Do you like planning, directing and coordinating healthcare services? If so, you may find satisfaction working as a medical and health services manager. In this role, you’d be responsible for managing anything from an entire care facility to a specific clinical area, department or medical practice. Medical and health services managers focus on improving efficiency and quality of patient services while also ensuring that operations are compliant with applicable local, state and federal laws and regulations. Your duties may also include preparing budgets and spending, representing the facility at meetings or on governing boards and keeping organized records of the facility’s services.
As a medical and health services manager, you will likely work with a range of professionals in the medical care setting, including medical providers, patients and support providers, so interpersonal skills are a plus. Most employers want you to have at least a bachelor’s degree as well as prior experience in health care. Some may require a master’s degree depending on the type of facility, but a bachelor’s in psychology is a great way to get started in this role at smaller facility if you’re vying for this typically well-compensated position. The median annual wage for medical and health services managers was $104,280 in May 2020. Employment for medical and health services managers is projected to grow a significant 32 percent this decade, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Correctional Treatment Specialist
Interested in helping people get back on their feet after they’ve served time in correctional facilities? You might enjoy a career as a correctional treatment specialist (also known as parole officer, case manager or correctional counselor). Your role would involve evaluating inmates using questionnaires and psychological tests as well as advising and developing rehabilitation plans for probationers and parolees. In addition to developing release plans, correctional treatment specialists also help facilitate job training programs, counseling services, substance abuse or mental health treatment and adequate housing for former inmates.
Correctional treatment specialists’ release plans and reports can greatly impact the future outcome for parolees, so candidates hoping to work in this field need to be highly ethical and are often required to pass competency exams, drug tests and criminal background checks. Keep in mind that this job can also be stressful and dangerous, as you may be assigned to fieldwork in high-crime areas or in correctional institutions. A bachelor’s degree in psychology or a related field, like criminal justice, can help to prepare you for this role and its demands. Employment of probation officers and correctional treatment specialists is lower than average, with projected growth at just 4 percent from 2020 to 2030, however, this will vary significantly depending on your location.
Teacher
Do you like to educate and inspire others? Want to be a role model? You may love teaching. According to Teach.com, “A great teacher should love educating students, and one of the principal goals many teachers set for themselves is to be the best educator they can be. There is something extremely gratifying about imparting information to your students and working with them to ensure they understand, not only concepts, but practical applications as well.” Keep in mind that teaching can also be demanding, as many teachers work during school hours as well as evenings and weekends preparing lessons and grading papers. Still, many find the work rewarding, plus many parents find teaching a great career because it allows them to have work breaks that coincide with their children’s school calendar.
While a bachelor’s in education is the go-to path for many aspiring teachers, some feel a bachelor’s in psychology can complement their work as a teacher in different ways, as they apply their psychology knowledge indirectly to the classroom environment. Whether you’d prefer to teach at the elementary or high school level, a bachelor’s degree will help you gain the right qualifications to enter the teaching field. You’ll also need to earn a teaching certificate along with your degree, so be sure to check your state’s teaching guidelines and requirements. Overall employment of grade-school teachers is projected to grow 7 percent this decade, about average for all occupations.
Social Worker
Do you like helping others manage deep societal issues such as poverty, abuse, unemployment and addiction? You may find social work rewarding. A social worker helps others improve their lives through counseling, advocacy and referrals to other agencies and professionals. As a social worker, you would help struggling families and individuals improve the quality of their lives by making sure they have access to basic needs. You’d also be responsible for examining their environment, relationships, community and even the government policies that affect their lives. Your role may involve finding solutions for your clients such as physical relocation, counseling, medical treatment, government programs, legal resources and employment. Social workers often help guide those in need through a matrix of complex problems, including the legal system.
Social workers operate in a variety of settings such as governmental organizations, schools, hospitals, private and non-profit organizations, community centers and elder care homes. Employment for social workers is expected to grow 11%, and employment for social services managers is expected to grow 13%. These managers direct and coordinate programs that provide services related to residential care, youth and family support, rehabilitation and other important areas of social support. Typically, you only need a bachelor's degree to qualify as a social worker or social services manager, but it's a good idea to look into the licensing for your particular state to better understand any additional requirements.
While we’ve focused on jobs you can get with a bachelor’s in psychology, there are many more to consider as you develop your career and educational goals. Just check out this thorough list of over 80 psychology-related careers from VeryWellMind. And if you’ve just begun to consider majoring in psychology, be sure to also check out our blog, What Every Prospective Psychology Student Should Know. Interested in earning or finishing your psychology degree completely online? At Pearson Accelerated Pathways, we find degree options with the same curriculum as more traditional on-campus programs but with greater scheduling flexibility and lower tuition. Check out how we can match you with the perfect degree plan!
