Novel and Vanguard University Degrees
Universities in some countries have already completed their student admissions for next year, whereas others are soon to follow. Even students without any offer for next year still have many opportunities when clearing in several countries open in August. Soon thereafter new Omani students are off to university for the first time, be that in Oman or abroad.
The number of undergraduate courses available to students often makes it difficult to choose. In the past decade, many of the traditional areas of study have continued to grow strongly, most notably health sciences and engineering. However, biological and biomedical sciences have also increased substantially, whereas business-related subjects have shown a slower but still steady growth. In many countries, however, subjects like social sciences and history have experienced a dip.
Beyond the traditional undergraduate degrees, several new programmes have been introduced since our graduating GED and A level students embarked upon their educational journey some 10 or 15 years ago. Some of these might be worth considering for students that have not yet made up their minds.
For instance, consider what air, cars, laptops, plants, knee-replacements and lunch have in common? They all can be and are packaged. A Bachelor of Science in Packaging Science at Clemson University might therefore be something to consider.
Cybersecurity has gained enormous social and political importance in recent years. The targets of cyberattacks range from infrastructure such as energy and water supplies to infiltration of companies to cripple their IT infrastructure for extortion purposes. The University of Saarland collaborates with the world’s leading research centre for cybersecurity and is one of the many universities that offer an undergraduate degree in cybersecurity.
Blogs may have existed ten of fifteen years ago, but major publications were still relying heavily on print magazines and newspapers rather than the world wide web as a main source of revenue. Today, however, online content dominates, requiring a whole new set of skills to manage and track articles. Online or digital journalism are therefore offered by many universities, such as King’s College and Westminster University in London. Other universities offer Social Media Management or similar.
Video game design has become very popular in recent years, but the University of Agder even offers a Bachelor in Academic e-Sports. The bachelor’s programme qualifies for jobs in various parts of the e-sports industry as an athlete and trainer, in management, administration and business development, technology and design, education and health and rehabilitation.
Other options to look at (for those who consider specialized or unusual degrees) include artificial intelligence, organic agriculture, robotics engineering, digital marketing, genetic counseling, drone technology, forensic behavioural sciences, search engine optimisation, internet of things, cloud computing, sleep science, nanotechnology, robotics engineering, human computer intelligence, app development and eco gastronomy.
All the best for your upcoming choices and future endeavors.