When you are a freshman in college, while it would be nice if you already knew what you wanted to major in, the truth of the matter is that you will spend most of your first and second year taking general required courses. Therefore, there is not a lot of pressure for you to exactly know what you want to focus on when it comes to your academic studies.

However, around the second semester of your sophomore year, your guidance counselor (along with your parents) is probably going to start recommending that you commit to a particular major. If you are someone who enjoys a lot of different things and you’re not sure what degrees will afford you the most job opportunities, we have five of them that will definitely make you a true contender in the marketplace following your graduation.

Business Administration (Bachelor’s). As long as there are companies around and money to be made, people with business degrees are going to be needed. As a matter of fact, there are several studies which indicate that those with a business administration degree’s salaries have been continuing to rise with an average starting salary being around $45,000. People with this degree tend to do quite well in the areas of marketing, finance and business management.

Nursing (Bachelor’s). The healthcare field continues to be a booming marketing; so much so that it’s considered to be virtually “recession proof”. If the medical profession fascinates you and you enjoy helping others, as a registered nurse you can earn anywhere from $43,000 to 92,000 per year. Plus, being that there are hospitals, schools, nursing homes and doctor’s offices all over the country, you can pick just about any place you want to live while working as a nurse.

Medical Assisting (Associate’s). If being in college for four years is not something that particularly interests you, then you might want to consider going into medical assisting. You only need an associate’s degree in order to be anything from a physical medical assistant to an outpatient care center medical assistant; both of which will give you around $30,000 a year.

Information Technology (Bachelor’s). We’re sure you can understand why having a four-year degree in the field of information technology can make it much easier for you to enter into the workplace. Every day, we see new developments in this field. This means that more and more people are needed to fill all kinds of positions from software development ($90-97,000) to computer systems analyst jobs ($81,000).

Business Administration (Master’s). Although there are some critics who believe that you don’t necessarily end up getting the best return on your investment when getting an MBA degree, the truth of the matter is that if business management is something that you want to get into, having one certainly can’t hurt. Not only is it a great way to corporately network while in school, but once you have graduated, it gives you access to all kinds of top-paying companies all over the world; many of which have been known to offer six-figure paying positions. So, whether you decide to get an EMBA online or go to a physical campus, once you complete your business degree, an MBA can open the door to so many surprising opportunities.