How Much Can I Make With an AAS Degree in Business?
- According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, as of May 2008 the median salary of bookkeeping, accounting, and auditing clerks was $32,510 per year. These positions require a specific skill but not a full degree. In general, a high school diploma is all that's necessary to get started. An AAS degree, though, offers a little more skill and a little more promise. Working in a busy firm with an AAS degree can yield $49,000 per year.
- Collections is about working with people to convince them to pay debts; performing this job requires skills an AAS degree demonstrates -- freshman level accounting knowledge, general algebra and freshman management philosophy. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the middle 50 percent of collections workers made between $12.14 and $18.12 per hour, which are annual salaries of $23,308 and $34,790, at the time of publication. Collections grow with the availability of credit lending from banks. As credit lending increases, collections jobs will too.
- Brokerage clerks work in brokerage firms such as Bank of America, Merrill Lynch or Goldman Sachs, and also smaller, local offices. These jobs require verifying stock orders, calculating taxes in sales, general bookkeeping and writing sales. Having an AAS degree, then, shows some competency and willingness to learn. The Bureau of Labor Statistics lists the median annual salary as $38,710, at the time of publication. Brokerage jobs can offer room for advancement -- sponsorship of brokerage licenses and bonuses, both of which increase the salary by considerable amounts.
- Part of salary determination works through supply and demand -- the demand for workers with AAS degrees in business is always present, but so is a large supply. That's part of the reason jobs that take an AAS degree in business pay around the $30,000 level. The other part is that employers set salary, and they set it at what a job is worth. You can use an AAS degree to start a business, in which case the limit on salary is the success of the business.
