Jobs You Can Get with an Associate Degree
You can start a job you’re passionate about straight out of high school.
Remember when you were in kindergarten and you were absolutely sure you wanted to grow up to be an astronaut, or a ballerina, or a ballerina astronaut who also wrote comic books? Then you got a little older and realized that probably wasn’t going to happen. But that doesn’t mean there’s no such thing as a dream job. And with the right resources and support, you can get started in your field of interest way sooner than you might expect.
Northpoint Charter School partners with CNM and UNM to offer dual enrollment opportunities to high school students. Unlike a lot of Albuquerque charter schools, Northpoint allows you to take college classes in place of high school-level ones. As a dual enrollment student, you can be well on your way to finishing a two-year degree by the time you graduate high school, if you want.
What can you do with a two-year associate degree? A lot. Here are a few fields you can enter right away with an associate’s or certificate.
Healthcare
Becoming a doctor takes at least eight years of intense studying after high school. But if you’re passionate about helping sick and injured people (or animals!), there are a ton of opportunities available with a two-year degree. For example, you could be a…
- Nurse
- Radiology technician
- Dental hygienist
- Emergency medical technician (EMT)
- Veterinary technician
…or study to be a different type of assistant or technician in another medical field.
STEM Fields
STEM fields – science, technology, engineering, and mathematics – are huge, and they’re only growing bigger as our day-to-day lives become more tech-based. With an associate degree or certification program, you could become a…
- Web developer
- Computer networking specialist
- Engineering technician
- IT support
- Laboratory technician
…or plenty of other hands-on tech jobs, especially if you’ve already gained some practical experience working with equipment in Northpoint’s Smart Lab.
Skilled Trades
CNM has a huge selection of skilled trades through its Career Technical Education (CTE) program. You can take these classes as a high schooler through dual enrollment, allowing you to get hands-on experience in fields like:
- Automotive technology
- Aviation maintenance
- Carpentry and construction
- Electrical trades
- Plumbing
…and more trade skills that can translate into careers fresh out of school.
Business
Maybe you don’t know exactly what field you’re interested in. Or maybe you have your sights set on a creative field there isn’t a degree program for. That’s okay. You can still take classes in a related skill, or get an all-purpose degree like an Associate in Business.
A business degree can set you up for a career in nearly any field, working as a:
- Project manager
- Administrative assistant
- Accountant
- Office manager
…or you can use what you learn as a business major to help you start your own business. Maybe you can’t get a degree in VTubing or web comic creation, specifically. But you can learn the skills for entrepreneurship, from business taxes and money management to marketing, to set you up for success.
If you’d like to learn more about dual enrollment programs at Northpoint and how they can help you reach your academic and career goals, call (505) 296-7677 to schedule a tour of the campus, or check out the student application process if you’re ready to get started.
