Education for Yahoo!’s List of Top Five Careers Available Through Wallace State

CONTACT: Gail Crutchfield, Communications and Marketing, Wallace State Community College, 256.352.8064 or gail.crutchfield@wallacestate.edu
HANCEVILLE, Ala. – A recent Yahoo! Education article compiled a list of five careers that have the potential for high salaries, but don’t require a lot of time in school to become qualified. Wallace State Community College in Hanceville provides education in all five of those careers.
The article used two criteria in creating the list of careers, with the first being a median annual salary above $40,144. That is the median annual salary for full-time workers in all occupations in the United States, as calculated from the median weekly earnings reported to the U.S. Department of Labor for the fourth quarter of 2012. The second criteria was that the careers chosen did not require a bachelor degree or higher for the applicants to quality.
In all cases, the Wallace State programs can normally be completed in four to six semesters and many offer the option for online and hybrid classes.
No. 1 on the list was paralegal, with a median annual salary of $46,730, with the bottom 10 percent earning $29,390 and the top 10 percent bringing home $75,400.
Wallace State’s paralegal program offers an Associate in Applied Science degree, and can be earned in four semesters. For information on the paralegal program, call Department Chair June Brooks at 256.352.8224 or email june.brooks@wallacestate.edu.
No. 2 on the list was registered nurse, with a median annual salary of $69,950. The bottom 10 percent earned $44,970 and the top 10 percent earned $96,630.
Wallace State’s nursing program offers an Associated in Applied Science degree for registered nurses (RN), as well as a certificate for licensed practical nurses (LPN). The program offers traditional classes as well as hybrid courses that allow you to tailor your education around your schedule, and courses can usually be completed within five semesters for RNs and three semesters for LPNs.
Future nursing and health science students at Wallace State will also enjoy a new state-of-the-art building that is expected to open in the fall of 2013.
For more on the Wallace State Nursing program, contact Deborah Hoover at 256.352.8204 or email deborah.hoover@wallacestate.edu.
No. 3 on the list was police officers, who earned a median annual salary of $54,230 depending on their geographic location. The bottom 10 percent earned $32,080 and the top 10 percent earned $84,980.
The Criminal Justice program at Wallace State offers an Associate in Applied Science in a number of law enforcement related careers, including forensic science and criminalistics. Graduates can find careers not only in their local police department and sheriff’s office, but also with the federal government, or as game wardens, corrections officers or probation officers. Completion of a criminal justice degree will take about five semesters.
For more information on the Criminal Justice program, contact Bob Howell at 256.352.8175 or email robert.howell@wallacestate.edu.
No. 4 on the list was dental hygienists, who earned a median annual salary of $69,280, with the top 10 percent bringing home $94,850 and the bottom 10 percent earning a respectable $46,020 each year. Dental hygienists also made a Yahoo! Education list for six careers that are always hiring.
Wallace State’s Dental Hygiene program offers an Associate in Applied Science degree and provides both classroom instruction and practical experience in its dental lab. Completion of the degree can be accomplished in five semesters.
The program offers information sessions for those interested in the program. Reservations to attend any upcoming sessions can be made by called 256.352.8300, or email barbara.ebert@wallacestate.edu for more information.
The final career on the list was Diagnostic Medical Sonographer, with the median annual salary $65,210. Sonography, or ultrasound, is a medical procedure that uses high frequency sound waves to produce images of organs, tissue or blood flow inside the body, rather than radiation used to produce x-rays. The lowest 10 percent of professionals on the scale made $44,950 and the highest made $90,640.
Wallace State’s Diagnostic Medical Sonography program can be completed in six semesters. Call Program Director Janet Money at 256.352.8318 or email janet.money@wallacestate.edu for more information.
These and many other programs at Wallace State can be used to get started on a career path upon graduation or as stepping stones toward an advanced degree at a four-year university. All offer a superior education, comparable to what you could receive at a four-year institution, but at a fraction of the costs.
Wallace State Community College has been ranked among the top 120 community colleges in the nation by the Aspen Institute, and routinely ranks among the top 50 colleges in the nation for the number of health care graduates it produces.
For information about these and other Wallace State programs, call 256.352.8000 or visit www.wallacestate.edu.
______________________________
Kristen Holmes
Director, Communications & Marketing
Wallace State Community College
P.O. Box 2000, Hanceville, AL 35077
1-866-350-9722 256-352-8118 direct
256-352-8314 fax 256-339-2519 cell
Visit us online at www.wallacestate.edu