What You Should Know About Graduating From Community College in Oklahoma
While you plan for community college, you should consider your career goals and desired salary level. Data from May 2021 shows that the top five occupations with the highest median salaries for associate degree holders in Oklahoma were air traffic controllers, dental hygienists, radiation therapists, nuclear medicine technologists, and diagnostic medical sonographers.
For associate degree holders looking for jobs in Oklahoma, the careers expected to have the most annual openings over the next 10 years are preschool teachers (excluding special education), paralegals and legal assistants, physical therapy assistants, and radiologic technicians.
Job seekers in Oklahoma should be aware of which jobs are expected to decline in terms of employment. The occupations that require an associate degree and are projected to undergo a drop in employment over the next decade include legal support workers, embalmers, forest and conservation technicians, desktop publishers, and morticians.
What’s Next?
As you prepare for community college, it’s important to review the different financial aid opportunities available to you. To help associate degree students find funding, we’ve put together a list of federal and state resources that connect you to scholarships, grants, and loans in Oklahoma.
- Oklahoma State Department of Education. The Oklahoma State Department of Education offers informative resources about budgeting and connects students to state-based financial aid programs.
- Federal Student Aid. Every year, the U.S. Department of Education’s office of Federal Student Aid awards over $120 billion in scholarships, grants, and loans. Students can see if they qualify by visiting the FAFSA4caster, and they can apply by filling out the online FAFSA form.
- CareerOneStop. This resource, sponsored by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, provides useful details about the dollar amounts, qualification requirements, and deadlines of different scholarships. Students can easily find scholarships that they are eligible for by filtering their searches by degree level and state.