Green Degrees With Community College Continuing Education Programs

By Ethan Sims

Jobs Vacancy, Employment Jobs, Employment

Green collar jobs are all the rage today. If the term green is a bit mystifying, it's a step up from blue, but just not white yet. Green indicates jobs that have to do with environmentally friendly technology - a technician with the training to help install a wind generator, someone who retrofits the house for more energy efficiency and so on. While these pay well, the white collars wonder if they couldn't get in on the action. All these green businesses these days need a whole new crew of green and environmentally savvy managers; and the community college continuing education system is rushing forward with new courses, degree programs and what have you, to fill demand.

Energy efficiency is such an important area to the economy now that the federal government is really throwing its might behind it in training the country for it - there is a half billion being invested in the sector. They might as well - it's going to employ an additional million people over the next 10 years. The potential isn't lost on people who are unhappy in their present jobs; and at any community college, continuing education programs in the form of two-year degrees are being put into place as quickly as possible. These will train people to be the managers who will supervise the manufacture of the new materials that will go into green energy products, the ones who will supervise how they are deployed, and the ones who will help protect our environment from energy production pollution.

Anyone working in a field that could benefit from some environmental awareness can sign up for a community college continuing education degree to learn about the latest that's possible in improving the environmental impact of their particular field. It certainly would look good on their resume too. What do these degrees sound like? Some of these are called associate degrees in applied sciences and you could specialize in renewable energy, water conservation, you name it. When these courses first started, Clean hadn't really caught on in the business world. The best that they could offer was training for managers who would need to run a firm that catered to the household energy conversion market. Now that businesses can think of nothing but changing their set ways when it comes to energy usage, the community college continuing education market is really beginning to take off.

Some of these programs will even get help from the federal stimulus program for education in green jobs. Look for community colleges with such an affiliation in place, and you could get $2500 off your tuition, and complete your degree in less time. Most of these programs, solar energy management, environmental planning, environment management and so on, are taken by students who are about 35 years of age; since these are technology courses, a certain amount of tolerance for math and physics will absolutely be required. But it's really heartening; the more the country believes in continuing education, and in people picking themselves up, dusting themselves off and learning new skills - math at that - this country will be all right. The best part is, there are hundreds of community colleges offering these courses, and many of these can even be completed online. All you need is a high school degree to get on board, and it could be your ticket to a new and rewarding career.