Whether you’re thinking of heading to campus or enrolling in anonline degree program, this list of most-awarded bachelor’s degreescould help you plan your college education. If you’re headed off tocollege soon, now’s the time to think about concentration programswithin the most popular major, and a look at how college students’choice of majors has changed over the years.

Over the last 40 years, the college major numbers have changedgreatly. For example, in 1970-1971, when 49 percent of high schoolgraduates moved on to higher education, 839,730 bachelor degreeswere awarded in the U.S. Of those, 176,307 were in education,155,324 in social sciences and history, 115,396 in business and63,914 in English literature. Judging by these numbers, we canguess that in the 1970s, college was still seen primarily as aplace for enriching “liberal arts” learning, not necessarily careerpreparation.

Contrast this with the last year for which statistics areavailable, 2006-2007. About 69 percent of high school students moveon to post-secondary education. In 2006-2007, 1,524,000 bachelor’sdegrees were awarded, and of those degrees, nearly one third –328,000 — were in business. After business, the fields of studyrounding out the most popular majors for bachelor’s degree studentswere:

* History and social sciences (164,183)

* Education (105,641)

* Health sciences (101,810)

* Psychology (90,039)

The numbers here tell us that more people feel college is anecessity if they want to pursue a professional career –especially in business.

Why business is the most popular major

The National Center for Education Statistics compiles data aboutschools at all levels, and when it says that business degrees are the most popular, it’s really lumpingtogether several different majors. In addition to businessadministration degree programs, the NCES’s category includesfinance, marketing and accounting. All these majors teach skillsthat are important to businesses.

If you want to gain a basic understanding of these topics,pursuing a bachelor’s degree in business administration is probablyyour best bet. Most universities will also let you choose aconcentration, which allows you to take in specialized study inaddition to the broad foundation offered by a business administration degree. Common concentrations includetopics like finance and accounting, marketing, or specializedindustry study, such as healthcare management.

Pursue your degree online

As more employers expect candidates for jobs to hold a degree,more people are returning to school, and more of them are goingonline. In 2008-2009, a Sloane Foundation survey reports, more than25 percent of all college students took at least one courseentirely via online distance learning. And online learning iseffective, too. A Department of Education study found that, onaverage, students who took courses online performed slightly betterthan students educated in the classroom only.

Many universities offering online courses have placed programs in their most popularmajors — including business degree programs — online. Web-basedlearning brings you the opportunity to step into the classroomwherever you have Internet access.

Information in this article was provided by AmericanInterContinental University Online. Contact AIU Online today ifyou’re interested in developing marketable knowledge andcareer-relevant skills with an industry-current degree program.(AIU Online does not guarantee employment or salary.)

Courtesy of ARAcontent