| According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Electric | | | | certification. Obtaining this can be done through |
| Electronic is the third largest specialty in the | | | | professional groups such as the Institute of Electric |
| engineering field with 214,000, behind Civil (278,000) | | | | Electronic Engineers, which can easily be accessed |
| and mechanical (238,000). Growth in the field should | | | | through the Web. |
| be steady with the Bureau estimating a need for | | | | Yet just because one gets their Bachelor's and |
| 11% more between now and 2018. In other words, | | | | certification that doesn't mean their education is over. |
| those with engineering degrees who enter this field | | | | Like most STEM professions, this is a career for |
| should see it follow the national average thanks to | | | | those who expect to be learning for the rest of their |
| retirement, population growth and growth in areas | | | | lives. Sooner or later an electronic or electrical |
| such as micro-electronics and green tech. | | | | engineer will feel the need to get their Masters in one |
| While the general public gets the terms mixed up, | | | | capacity or another, including possibly management. |
| there is a key difference between Electrical and | | | | As such, this type of engineer will eventually hook up |
| Electronic Engineering. Electric Engineers focus | | | | with online colleges, either to obtain their masters or |
| primarily on power generation, such as power plants | | | | for webinars for the latest advances in the field. |
| and transmission infrastructure. Electronic Engineering | | | | On the plus side, financial aid for high school students |
| concerns itself more with end products ranging from | | | | is a lot more common than in other occupational |
| computers to iPods. What the two STEM professions | | | | tracks. Not only are there such basics as the Pell |
| do share in common are very bright futures. | | | | Grant, but a savvy student should look into S-STEM |
| The field then subdivides into eight primary areas: | | | | scholarships, as well as funding from such institutes |
| Power, control, electronics, microelectronics, signal, | | | | as the Institute or private corporations such as |
| telecommunications, instrumentation and, probably the | | | | Microsoft. For this, it's always a good idea to not only |
| fastest growing of the areas, computers. There are | | | | consult an online college's financial aid officer, but do a |
| many who practice more than one of these | | | | little research on such search engines as Google. |
| sub-disciplines, but it's possible to specialize in just one | | | | According to the Bureau, the lowest 10% of electrical |
| of them and make quite a career out of it. There's | | | | engineers make slightly over $52,000, with electronic |
| also one very popular cross discipline called | | | | engineers upping the ante to over $55,000 and |
| mechatronics that combines mechanical and electronic | | | | computer hardware engineers nearing $60,000. The |
| engineering. | | | | top 10% can range from $120,000 to over $150,000. |
| The first step in becoming either type is a Bachelor's | | | | These jobs include some pretty good perks, including |
| degree. While one can enter the field from there, | | | | life/health insurance, investment/retirement packages |
| sooner or later the young engineer is going to need | | | | and educational incentives. |