College is no longer reserved for traditional subjects like English literature, history, and psychology. There are plenty of web design programs from accredited schools that can lead to an engaging, creative career. Often, college seems unreachable because of the costs. You can always turn to private student loans, so you don’t have to worry about your finances.
But one of the biggest concerns students have about their web design degrees is that it’s too niche-specific with not enough crossover skills.
While this can be true in some cases, the reality is that earning your bachelor’s in web design is still worth it. Read on to discover how to get the most out of your program as well as some potential career paths to explore.
Should I Study Web Design or Web Development?
If you have the choice, opt for development with additional classes in design. There are also college programs that combine both into one program, which gives you the best of both worlds.
The reason why development is a valuable discipline today is that it combines technical skills that strict design degrees don’t teach. Web design degrees do offer training in common coding languages, but they’re limited to front-end elements of website building.
You’ll learn the basics of HTML, CSS, and possibly some JavaScript to make decent mockups, but the majority of your program will focus on subjects such as illustration, multimedia design, user experience (UX) design, portfolio presentation, and the like. Web development goes a step further and expands your skills to incorporate what’s known as back-end elements.
These are behind-the-scenes operations that actually make a website functional. It includes programming languages like Python and C++, business subjects including project management, and technical skills related to IT and database management.
Cost vs. Salary
Even highly paid web designers to tend to earn less than web developers. College is a big investment, and you’ll likely be facing years of debt to earn your degree.
If you want to get the greatest reward for all your hard work and money, it’s best to consider how your career ambitions and degree will affect your future earning potential.
One way to balance the cost of your education with your entry-level salary is to explore private student loans. If you already have skills and want to continue your education, private loans allow you to personalize your student financing experience.
This means lower interest rates, greater options for refinancing and consolidation, and easier management in the future.
Potential Careers with a Bachelor’s in Web Design/Development
Beyond the two most obvious careers, there are several other paths for you to pursue with an undergraduate in web design. You may be interested in going into game design, which requires good illustration skills and experience with animation. This can be an exciting and fun path for the creative spirits who enjoy bringing video game ideas to life on the screen.
You could also look into becoming a UX or UI designer. These professionals are responsible for crafting the entire user experience on a website.
This includes the look and feel of a site as well as a direct competitor and audience research, content ideation, and wireframing. With additional skills drawn from web development, you could look into being a full-stack developer, a mobile applications developer, or a webmaster.
Webmasters manage a company’s entire website by maintaining security, building and integrating new features, and conducting analyses to implement continual improvements.
