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Not all technical jobs require a 4-year degree.
- The country will experience a 3.4 million shortage of technical workers without four-year degrees, according to a new September 2019 report from the National Science Board.
- These jobs include web developers, maintenance workers, civil engineers, and medical information technicians.
- But four-year degree holders still out earn the rest of the workforce.
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Some of the country's most in-demand jobs don't require a college degree.
The country will experience a shortage of 3.4 million technical workers, or those in science, technology, engineering, and math, by 2022. A new report from the National Science Board there will be 1.3% more job openings for technical careers than people qualified to perform them.
The news comes as trade schools have started to tout the high-paying technical careers you can get with just a two-year associate's degree. As the cost of college continues to rise, and student loan debt tops 1.5 trillion, skipping a four-year degree can save families hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Read more: Blue-collar jobs like plumbing pay $90,000 without a college degree, and it's driving more workers to trade school
"It is in the nation's interest that all Americans, including the two in three U.S. adults who do not have a bachelor's degree, have the opportunity to participate in and benefit from our scientific and technological progress," the report states.
The majority of technical, non four-year degree workers are in installation and maintenance (27%). Healthcare has 21% of these workers, construction 18%, and production 16%. The rest are in math, architecture, and other fields
Still, there are caveats to skipping a four-year degree for a technical job. Though some jobs that only require an associate's degree pay six-figures, four-year degree holders still out earn the rest of the population. The US Bureau of Labor Statistics finds on average, workers who hold at least a bachelor's degree earned more than the $932 median weekly earnings for all workers in 2018.
Here are 9 high-demand technical jobs in STEM you can get without a four-year degree, described by NSB: