As the job market becomes increasingly competitive, colleges and universities seek to provide graduates with even more tangible skill sets to compete in their field.
That is why it is encouraging to see new academic programs that will afford students real-world knowledge they can immediately use in the workforce.
This fall, the GW Law School will create a program to examine the future of the health care industry. As Dean Paul Schiff Berman noted, it will be critical for law graduates to remain competitive with other lawyers in the increasingly important field of health care law.
Although many law schools have been criticized for inadequately preparing their students for the legal world, adding programs that teach the most important legal topics will allow graduates to be fully prepared upon entering the profession.
In the School of Public Health and Health Services, a new graduate program in global environmental health beginning next semester will provide students with practical skills.
The program, headed by assistant professor of environmental and occupational health Jay Graham, will seek to connect the marketing and science aspects of global public health projects.
By doing this, Graham believes that students will be better suited to deal with the global public health issues they will likely face in the profession.
These types of essential programs will allow students to obtain the necessary skills and knowledge required to remain competitive in the workforce today and in the future.