Louisiana Career Colleges and Trade Schools

Career Colleges and Technical Schools in Louisiana

Making the grade at colleges and universities in Louisiana

Though Louisiana may host one of the world's largest parties every February for Mardi Gras and serve up a mean Cajun crawfish dish, the state also dishes out some excellent education options for college students. More than 20 percent of the population holds a bachelor's degree or higher, and each year more than 273,000 students attend colleges and universities in Louisiana for career training.

Career education to get you started

Louisiana features more than 50 schools of higher education, many specializing in certain trades. The Delta School of Arts and Technology and the Delta School of Business and Technology are two such private schools.

The Louisiana Culinary Institute in Baton Rouge and the New Orleans School of Cooking provide engagement with the wonderful world of food for both the would-be professional and the culinary enthusiast.

For potential ministers and theologians, Louisiana Baptist University, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, St. Joseph's Seminary College and Notre Dame Graduate School of Theology in New Orleans offer undergraduate and graduate-level training across the state.

Colleges and universities in Louisiana

With almost 30,000 students enrolled, Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College--or LSU for short--is the largest four-year institution, followed by the University of Louisiana at Lafayette with approximately 16,000 students, and Southeastern Louisiana University with more than 15,000 attendees.

All three are four-year, public institutes that confer educational advancement opportunities that range from professional certification to graduate degree programs. The average cost of these three colleges is around $3,100 per year for in-state tuition.

While standard degrees, such as those in business, education and English are granted here, other less common ones are as well, such as:

Coastal environmental science
Oceanography and coastal science
Landscape architecture
Aerospace studies
Film and media arts
Veterinary medicine

These are just a few of the unique degree programs offered at colleges in the Pelican State. The average tuition for a four-year education with housing is $9,479. That's about $4,000 less than the rest of the U.S. A two-year education without housing is around $1,641, which is about $500 less than the U.S. average.

From career education to employment

Currently, top employers in the state are found in the fields of trade, transportation and utilities, government, education and health services. The unemployment rate is about 1.5 percent lower than the national average.

Office and administrative support, sales and related occupations, food preparation and serving employee the largest number of Louisianans. Mean wages for those jobs are approximately $29,100, $29,600 and $19,530, respectively.

Health care practitioners and technical occupations employee a large number of people, as well. Their average wage is around $60,900, with surgeons averaging around $241,100 per year and psychiatric technicians bringing up the bottom end of the scale at around $28,000 per year. In this case, salary earned often equates with time spent in school.

In addition, three of the top Fortune 500 companies are located in the state, including: Entergy, CenturyLink and Shaw Group. Their office are located in New Orleans, Monroe and Baton Rouge.

Whatever you decide to study, the idea of growing a career in Cajun country can be compelling. With its natural beauty, unique character and low cost-of-living, life in Louisiana provides more fullfilment than a bellyful of jambalaya.

Author: Angela Spires

Sources:

Institutes of Higher Education • Nov 05, 2011 • http://www.census.gov • http://www.census.gov/compendia/databooks/2010/tables/sma_A-22.pdf

Louisiana Quick Facts • Nov 05, 2011 • http://quickfacts.census.gov • http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/22000.html

Cost of Living Indicators • Nov 05, 2011 • http://www.census.gov • http://www.census.gov/compendia/databooks/2010/tables/sma_A-38.pdf

School Enrollment Louisiana • Nov 05, 2011 • http://factfinder.census.gov • http://factfinder.census.gov/servlet/STTable?_bm=y&-context=st&-qr_name=
ACS_2009_5YR_G00_S1401&-ds_name=ACS_2009_5YR_G00_&-tree_id=5309&-redoLog=
false&-_caller=geoselect&-geo_id=04000US22&-format=&-_lang=en

Economy at a Glance Louisiana • http://www.bls.gov • http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.la.htm • Oct 14, 2011

Occupational Employment and Wage Estimates Louisiana • May 01, 2010 • http://www.bls.gov • http://www.bls.gov/oes/current/oes_la.htm#45-0000

Louisiana Colleges and Universities • Nov 05, 2011 • http://www.infoplease.com • http://www.infoplease.com/edu/colleges/LA.html

Louisiana Colleges and Universities • Nov 05, 2011 • http://www.50states.com • http://www.50states.com/college/louisiana.htm

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