Accredited Online Human Services Degree

Make a Positive, Life-Changing Influence in Lives of Others with an Online Degree in Human Services

If you would like to help people during times of crisis in their lives, then earning an online human services degree might be a great choice for you. Studying human services can be the gateway to a variety of interesting career options in the rewarding field of human services.

With an online degree in human services, you will learn how to help with a variety of mental and emotional health problems, improving quality of life for those who suffer with them. Practical training in fieldwork or internship program prepares you to succeed in complex circumstances as you navigate real-world cases.

Upon completing your human services degree, you will emerge with the empirical knowledge and skills you need to pursue a challenging career as a human services specialist. Individuals with this degree often become social workers, counselors or psychologists and work with government, private or non-profit agencies.

Unlike with a more traditional program, students may earn human services degree online on their own schedules. You can study during evenings or weekends or whenever is best for you.

Another interesting aspect of these programs is that they're taught by both trained professors and actual professionals in the field of human services, helping you to put human services theories into practice.

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What should you consider when applying for an online degree in human services?

There are many things to consider when pursuing a human services degree. First, you should make sure that you really like helping other people find the help that they need. You must be caring and compassionate with a strong desire to support people in need.

Human services can be a challenging career path, and many professionals find themselves mentally and emotionally exhausted at the end of the day. That being said, it's also highly rewarding and satisfying to truly help others.

Secondly, you might want to consider a specialty. With an online degree in human services, you can pursue further educational opportunities in a specific area that interests you, such as counseling or social justice.

What you will learn with an online human services degree

The primary purpose of a human services degree is to help people struggling with illness, domestic violence, addiction, substance abuse and poverty. Whether their issues are mental, physical, cultural or legal, many people could use help connecting with the services they need to get their lives moving in the right direction.

Toward that end, online human services degree programs often start by covering the social and cultural context many of your clients come from. This gives you an understanding of not only the problems your clients are having, but also why they are having them.

Human services degree programs combine proven theories with industry-current practical experience to give you all necessary skills so that you can make a positive impact through a variety of counseling, therapeutic, training, and preventive methods.

Many human services online degree programs will teach you how to reach out to and interact with community organizations that might be able to offer your clients medical, financial or legal assistance.

When the community at large cannot help, sometimes government services can. Some online human services degree programs also provide instruction on the history and structure of government social welfare programs so that you know the resources out there—and how to utilize them.

Career outlook for human services graduates

Due to the breadth of the education you receive, a degree in human services can lend itself to employment in a variety of different careers. Each has its own growth projections and salary expectations.

Social workers, counselors and community organizers interested in health services careers can find fulfilling jobs including mental health worker, prevention specialist, registered substance abuse counselor, addiction specialist, social worker, human services administrator, rehabilitation center assistant, child welfare worker, youth care worker and elderly services provider.

Job growth in this sector may vary from 1.7 percent to 40 percent over the next 10 years, depending on the career path you choose to enter. In many circumstances, a human services degree serves as an entry point to the world of helping others as a profession. Subsequent master's degrees, which you may also earn online, could further hone your skills and target your career.

Income projections for human services professionals

No one goes into human services to make money—it is a field you enter into so that you can help people. Depending on your chosen specialization, your yearly income can vary. Average salaries in 2010 were between $42,480 and $68,640, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Trends for the coming years in human services

We live in a period of rapid change and social turmoil, which is likely to have an effect on all of the careers related to human services over the next decade. The following are some expected industry trends:

• Technology is a powerful force that can be used to connect many people who are in need of services to the help that they require.
• Changes in social structure are teaching more people how to make do with less. Many of these people will likely need help finding the resources available to them.
• Uncertainty in state and federal budgets and the resulting service cuts point to opportunities and growth for private, non-profit service providers.
• Social and community organizations may play a bigger role in meeting physical, mental and social health needs of individuals.

While human services can be a challenging field, it's also highly rewarding. The people who work in this field often feel a great sense of fulfillment knowing that their work is truly making a difference in the lives of others. eDegreeSteps provides you opportunity to find suitable online human services degree programs to fulfill your desire to help people and community.

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