The best careers that only require 2 years of education are primarily in specialty fields that deal with healthcare, technology or accounting. Unlike four year degrees, two year degrees dive right into the specialty and use hands-on educational techniques to provide you with the skills you need to start your career.
The Best Careers that Only Require 2 Years of Education
Just because a career makes a "best" list doesn't mean that it's the best career for you. Most of these positions offer good salaries, a prosperous job outlook and room for career growth. If your preferred career doesn't appear on this list, keep in mind that that doesn't mean that it's not still the right career for you to pursue.
Healthcare Technologists
A number of healthcare technologist positions qualify as some of the best careers that only require 2 years of education. These careers focus on a specific area of healthcare, like radiology or sonography, and the technologists must know how to properly use and maintain the equipment, assisting doctors and nurses as they treat and diagnose patients. Consider one of the following career paths:
- Nuclear Medicine Technologist
- Medical Sonographer
- Radiologic Technician
- Cardiovascular Technologist
- Surgical Technologist
Other Healthcare
If you'd rather help in the care and therapeutic rehabilitation of patients, many jobs exist within the healthcare field that only require two years of education. Not only do these positions offer good pay, the healthcare field is growing so quickly that job prospects are numerous and often offer a large amount of flexibility. You may want to pursue an education in one of the following fields:
- Licensed Practical Nurse
- Dental Hygienist
- Respiratory Therapist
- Occupational Therapy Assistant
- Physical Therapy Assistant
Computer Technology
Many community and vocational colleges offer degree programs in computer science, computer graphic design and computer information systems. Each of these programs sets you up to pursue either a four-year degree within the field, or you can immediately enter the computer industry working for a company or working as an independent contractor. One of the benefits of working as an independent contractor is the flexibility to choose your hours and your schedule. Keep in mind, though, that if you're working on your own you will have to track your own accounting, billing clients and pursuing late payments. Job include:
- Web designer
- Computer programmer
- Computer repair technician
Legal Services
If you've always enjoyed the idea of being involved in legal proceedings, but you don't think that you're cut out for the long road to law school, you may want to consider a position as a paralegal or a court reporter. You pursue these positions with a two-year degree and earning potential is excellent.
Engineering Technician
There are a number of engineering fields that you can enter into, but most fields need technicians to assist with troubleshooting problems, researching, developing, constructing and inspecting buildings and products. Engineering technicians need to have a strong grasp of math and science. If you're interested in becoming an engineering technician, you can choose to specialize in one of the following fields:
- Aerospace
- Agriculture
- Biomedical
- Chemical
- Civil
- Computer hardware
- Electrical
- Environmental
- Industrial
- Materials
- Mechanical
- Mining/Geological
- Nuclear
- Petroleum
Choosing a Career
To get a better grasp on what career is the best choice for you, call your local community, vocational or technical college to pick up the degree plans for the careers you're most interested in. These degree plans will walk you through the classes you will have to take in order to receive your degree. If the classes seem interesting and you feel excited about the future job prospects, see if you can job shadow someone who is currently working in that field. The more information you gather, the more confident you'll be when you take that step to invest in your education.
