Best Community Colleges in Louisiana

Why Attend Community College in Louisiana?

Studying in Louisiana affords any student the opportunity to take advantage of a robust economy, complete with a healthy job market and numerous options when it comes to the community college level of education. With reasonable tuition options combined with the cheap cost of living, Louisiana is a great place to stretch your education dollar. For example, the state-based Our Lady of the Lake College has proven to be a great option, with an average net price of only $10,000 a year. Louisiana also has a number of more specialized community college institutions such as Nunez Community College and Remington College, both of which offer an array of degree and career paths for around $13,000 or less a year.

What Career Pathways Are Available in Louisiana?

Louisiana has an impressive 722 different job types and ranks as the 26th best in terms of selection. This is great news for any hopeful students as the median for job types in the US sits at 700. Louisiana boasts a healthy 1.27% of all nations labor force, which breaks down to around 1.793 million professionals. That is just shy of Oregon’s median of 1.825 million, although Louisiana still ranks in the 48th percentile when compared on the nation scale.

Louisiana offers a number of options in the local industry - with a strong focus in the energy and environmental protection sectors. Additionally, Louisiana’s tourism industry offers a great opportunity to those entering the labor force - with a number of local attractions proving lucrative for promoters and advertisers.

What Are The Most Common Jobs in Louisiana?

As with any state, Louisiana has a wide array of common occupations - three of which merit mention.

Secretaries and Administrative Assistants, Except Legal, Medical, and Executive

The Magnolia State has the 19th most such positions compared to any other state in the US - 32,220 to be exact. At a median annual salary of $34,800, Louisiana rank rather low in comparison to the rest of the nation, as California pays out two times more at an average of over $70k per year. Furthermore, a mere 12% of all states across the nation pay more than Louisiana - a figure that proves abysmal when it comes to a living wage.

Office Clerks, General

Again, Louisiana ranks near the bottom when it comes to the median salary for general office clerks. Of the 2.578 million employed in this role in the US as of 2020, Louisiana comes in 25th with 30,850. Although the median annual salary in Louisiana is 28,010, that is about 4% less than the national median of $29,000. Compare that to California where the median is above $32k!

Waiters and Waitresses

Louisiana pays the 47th lowest for waiters and waitresses in the nation with a median of $18,270 (landing it in just the 8th percentile nationally, leaving Louisiana far behind in terms of compensation). Furthermore, California boasts 171,630 of such employees, which is more than double that of Louisiana’s. But that doesn’t mean you should count Louisiana out, as there is the potential to make up to 56% more via extra hustle (that's the 90th percentile for the role, so although uncommon, it is possible). Fortunately, that would put you close to $28,000 per year, which would in fact top California's $26,000.