Thinking of Going to Professional School?

You might want to reconsider:

Med school may have impressed potential mates, mothers-in-law and loan officers in years past, but that may soon change.

Sageworks, a financial information company, recently sent me some data on the annual percent change in sales for various professional services industries. Over the last eight years, many professional service firms have seen declining increases in their sales (or in the last year, actual declines in their sales). One industry seems to be doing O.K. though:

If you can’t read the teeny-tiny type, the healthy green line plots the sales percent change in “Accounting, Tax Preparation, Bookkeeping and Payroll Services.” The yellow, blue and red lines are for dentists, physicians and legal services, respectively. Note that Sarbanes-Oxley, which likely increased demand for some accounting services, was passed in 2002.

Instead of planning on going to professional school, consider getting the most bang for your buck from a bachelor's degree. Engineering and economics majors continue to do very well.