Education

Industry Overview

Although not the sexiest or most lucrative industry to consider, education is certainly one of the fastest and steadily growing sectors in the country. The futurist Alvin Toffler predicted that the "illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn." With nearly one in four Americans enrolled in educational institutions, educational services is the second largest industry in the country, employing more than 13 million people.

The job forecast over the next ten years is excellent, due to increased overall enrollment in all educational sectors, and the need for a new supply of teachers to replace the large numbers that are expected to retire in the next decade. Opportunities in education range widely, and include positions as guidance counselors, administrators, school nurses, bus drivers, recruiters, and, of course, teachers.

There are two basic categories of schools in the United States. Public schools receive the bulk of their operating funds from local, state, and federal governments—in other words, from your tax dollars. As a result, these schools—from PS 182 to Penn State—are accountable to the public. Private schools, on the other hand, are not funded by taxes, but by tuition fees and private donations. They're not accountable to the public. Who attends these schools (and how much they pay), who teaches at them (and what they teach), and who runs them are all privately made decisions.

Both public and private schools have a mandate to impart information and skills. At the lowest level, this includes the basic reading, writing, and arithmetic needed to hold a job and read a newspaper. At the highest level, it means postgraduate data and techniques required by specialists, from surgeons to literary critics. And increasingly, it also means training and ongoing education throughout the course of a lifetime.

Beyond schools, there are training and learning departments in virtually every major corporation. Many of these privately run programs fall under the jurisdiction of human resources, but the skills and practices are often similar to those required for a successful career in schools. In fact, many corporations have their own in-house universities (or partnerships with local universities) to provide training specific to their workforce requirements.

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Education Job Listings