By Jennifer Merritt

A robust job market and a smart choice in your degree pursuit can lead to big bucks careers. In examining salary and job growth over the last few years, five areas of study that always emerge as top performers on both traditional campuses and via cyber-classrooms include business, engineering, marketing, accounting, and information technology.

"People who gravitate to jobs in these industries do so because they see career advancement," says Ken Udas, executive director of Pennsylvania State University's World Campus, an online counterpart to the brick-and-mortar institution. "These areas tend to have a lot of transition in that you can easily go from a sales rep to a director of sales and marketing, for example." Furthermore, such majors are mentally challenging and won't leave you monetarily challenged once you graduate, as a recent study conducted by the National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) cited below reveals.

JeanCarlo Bonilla, executive director of e-Learning & Graduate Enrollment for ePoly, the online arm of Polytechnic University, which offers graduate certificates and master's degrees, attributes growth in these fields to their ever-evolving nature. "Innovation and emerging technologies tend to drive our economic systems, and you will always need people who understand and know how to manage such new technologies." As a result, he adds, more and more students are pursuing specialized degrees in these areas.

Build It Up With Business

Business is one of the largest degrees conferred on graduates, with 307,000 bachelor's degrees awarded in 2004, according to the most recent data available from the National Center for Education Statistics. Don't let that large amount of competition fool you-- since a business degree can be applied to virtually any profession, the possibilities are extensive-- and the salary potential enormous.

Recent graduates who held a business degree in 2007 found themselves entering a job market where initial job offers increased over last year. Business administration/management majors, for example, saw average starting salary offers rise 9.2 percent to $43,523, according to Salary Survey, a quarterly report published by NACE.

In pursuing this degree, students can expect to attend classes on negotiation, ethics, and management skills. Most students add a minor or area of concentration to further refine the focus of their degree, since the greatest advancement opportunities in business careers are linked to specialization.

"At Boston University, we're finding that specialized management degrees (rather than MBAs) are particularly appealing -- in project management, finance, and other areas," says Jay Halfond, dean of Boston University's Metropolitan College, which offers online degree programs. "Our online students like the fact that we recognize their industry credentials and integrate those into their master's degree program. They also like working with others across the nation in a virtual community of other professionals in their fields."

Opportunities to pursue similar degrees online from numerous institutions abound, but should you choose that route, Udas urges you research not just the accreditation, but also the reputation of potential e-educators. "There are a lot of providers in that space," says Udas, who has been teaching online since 1995. "It's an area met really well by lower-end providers that are accredited, but don't maintain the quality of online learning."

For those not yet ready for the cyber classroom, plenty of traditional business programs exist, both in terms of degree completion and industry-specific certificate courses. What's more is that since many business students are also working professionals, it's more and more common to find institutions offering evening, weekend, and accelerated programs geared toward nine-to-fivers. Some examples include the University of Florida's Executive MBA program and the University of Kentucky's Bachelor's of Business Administration given via its Evening and Weekend College.

Market Right

NACE's Salary Survey pointed out that marketing graduates saw increased salary offers of 14 percent to $41,323 over last year. Impressive, considering that at the same time last year, such grads saw starting salaries drop by 3.4 percent.

In pursuing a marketing degree, expect to come across courses in advertising and journalism, as well as in consumer behavior, market research, and visual arts, like art history and photography, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).

Competition for such jobs will be fierce, as job growth is expected to grow faster than average, according to the BLS, adding that graduates are expected to posses a high level of creativity and strong communication and computer skills. This is where earning a marketing degree online can give you an advantage over others vying for similar positions in the field, say experts.

"In various studies we've conducted, we've found that learners say that in addition to what they've learned in class, the experience of relying on information technology to communicate with others has honed or developed skills they didn't have beforehand," Udas says, adding that online learning is beneficial "particularly for those employees that are working in teams that are regionally distributed."

By the same token, top campus-based marketing degree programs, such as the one offered by New York University's Stern School of Business, are offering courses in Internet marketing to address the growing need for skilled marketing professionals with Web savviness.

Engineer Your Options

Much like marketing, the BLS predicts the availability of engineering positions will grow much faster than average through 2014. Udas notes that as far as economics go, the United States' higher Education system hasn't been producing engineers at the level needed.

Perhaps that's why NACE notes that engineering graduates fared extremely well in its salary survey. The average offer to mechanical engineering graduates rose 7.7 percent to $54,587. Chemical engineering majors saw average offers rise 7.4 percent to $60,054 and civil engineering grads saw an increase of 4.8 percent over last year, to $47,145.Electrical engineering graduates may have posted the smallest increase -- 3.2 percent -- but starting salary offers remain impressive at $54,599.

The type of engineering you choose to pursue -- mechanical, chemical, civil, or electrical -- will determine your class offerings, but in general, courses will involve math and physical and life sciences, says the BLS. Design courses that can be accompanied by a computer or lab class -- or in some cases, both -- also are components of most curriculums.

Accounting Careers Add Up

According to calculations by the BLS, employment of accountants and auditors is expected to grow faster than average for all occupations through the year 2014. This increase is due in part to new financial laws and regulations (most notably the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which was passed by Congress to curb corporate accounting fraud after the Enron scandal), and the heightened scrutiny of company finances.

The image of nerdy accountants sitting slumped over their calculators is not at all relevant in today's accounting careers. Number crunchers must also be savvy with auditing computer software, or specialize in areas such as international business, specific industries, or current legislation, to land the hottest accounting jobs. Plus, an element of crime fighting comes with the territory as well with the growth of forensic accounting, in which accountants investigate white-collar crimes like embezzlement and other criminal financial transactions.

If this intriguing side of accounting sounds appealing, there are a couple of different routes you can pursue. First, the BLS notes that many graduates of junior colleges or business schools, start out as bookkeepers and accounting clerks, and eventually advance to positions with more responsibilities. Most accountant positions require at least a bachelor's degree in accounting and professional certification or licensing, however. Either way, your hard work will pay off; the National Association of Colleges and Employers' Salary Survey reports bachelor's degree candidates in accounting received average starting offers of $43,269 in 2005.

Landing a position with a top-notch firm and climbing the ranks, though, will most likely require a return to school, namely graduate studies with a reputable institution. "Master's degrees from well-regarded universities are clearly seen as the ticket to advancement," notes Halfond.

Clicking into a Computer Science Career

Another once-considered "nerdy" course of study, Computer Science is now hip and chic, thanks in part to high job availability and salary potential. According to the National Science Foundation, Computer Science graduates at the bachelor's level are more likely than graduates in other fields to be employed full time after graduation, and upon entering the workforce, they are rewarded with higher salaries. The BLS reports the median annual earnings of computer applications software engineers who worked full time in May 2004 were about $74,980. The middle 50 percent earned between $59,130 and $92,130. The lowest 10 percent earned less than $46,520, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $113,830.

Computer science programs are commonly focused on computer software, hardware, scientific computing, and computer theory, which can integrate courses in programming fundamentals, algorithms and complexity, computer architecture, and more. But when it comes to education, Computer Science professionals know that there's never a "game over." Additional certification is a necessity, specifically when it comes to demonstrating competence and forging career growth. In fact, many employers regard these certifications as the industry standard. For instance, those with Computer Science degrees may choose to earn certifications such as CompTIA Network+, Microsoft Certified Database Administrator (MCDBA), or Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator (MCSA), to name a few.

"Compared to the technology boom of the 90s, technology careers today are even more specialized," says Bonilla. "This is where graduate Education comes into play, since it provides students with an opportunity to 'master' a field or concentration."

Whatever your choice may be -- online or traditional school, or business, marketing or engineering, accounting or Computer Science -- know you chose wisely. That distinct base of knowledge that earning such degrees provides will help keep you relevant in today's competitive job market.

Additional reporting by Dawn Papandrea.