When it comes to choosing a vocational school, many worry that they’ll earn less money than those with four-year degrees from traditional colleges. However, the truth is that degrees from vocational schools often lead to careers in more progressive, cutting-edge fields with higher starting salaries than traditional college graduates. In fact, the annual starting salary for students graduating with a vocational degree can easily exceed $45,000.

By 2016, it is expected that 75 percent of the nation’s workforce will be in the service-providing sector — and these are the careers for which a vocational school can provide the best training. Among today’s hottest careers are:

Culinary Arts

A career in the culinary arts extends far beyond one of the numerous chef positions found in professional kitchens. Culinary arts graduates are trained in the finer details of haute cuisine and pursue careers as varied as restaurant management, food industry marketing and even restaurant critic/food journalist. In the next decade, it’s anticipated that more than 2 million new jobs will be available to students of the culinary arts.

Fashion Design

Fashion design means more than just having your latest line featured on runways and in department stores. Along with creativity, artistic skill and a keen awareness of trends, fashion design students also must possess a strong business sense. Fashion design students – more than 60 percent of whom are self-employed – find lucrative careers in marketing/public relations, as fashion buyers, boutique owners, product managers, personal stylists and more.

Other Hot Careers

Significant opportunities for students trained at vocational schools also can be found in computer-related careers, business and administrative careers and engineering technology. Additional hot vocational careers include:

• Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning (HVAC) Technician – HVAC jobs are expected grow 18 – 26 percent during the next seven years.

• Paralegal – Paralegal positions are expected to grow by 27 percent by 2014; the current average annual salary ranges from $28,000 to $48,000.

• Nursing – During 2008, another 450,000 nurses will be needed to overcome a nursing shortage.

Note: All statistics sourced from the Bureau of Labor Statistics.