October 10, 2012 | SharkAdmin Getting an associate degree in the Digital Media program at Northwest Vista College can get many students on the path to financial success. According to data from the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board, which reports first-year earnings and placement rates for public higher education institutions in Texas, the Digital Media AAS degree produces the highest-number of graduate earnings and placement in Texas. At an average salary of $24,932, this puts NVC graduates at a higher rate than comparable organizations such as Richland College, TSTC Waco and the College of the Mainland Community College District. Additionally, Digital Media's AAS & MSA graduates are also the highest paid in Texas. Keeping up with workforce trends has been one of the goals of Northwest Vista College and recent evidence of that can be seen in the Digital and New Media fields where students can now get three degrees in four years. At NVC, students who follow the Digital Media Technology Associate of Science degree will not only benefit from the technical hours required for workforce programs, but these hours will also transfer to four year colleges. These same hours from the Digital Media Technology degree will also put students on track to earn a New Media Arts or New Media Communications Associate of Art degree before they transfer out to get their Bachelor of Applied Arts and Science. Students can also earn a Marketable Skills Award as a Web Designer and a Digital Media Certificate before leaving NVC. Getting all these degrees and certificates can be achieved within four years. Jobs in the graphic and website design, animation and multimedia areas are expected to grow about 13 percent from 2008 to 2013 according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. “All of the degrees students can earn at NVC makes them top candidates for jobs in San Antonio. Most of our students become employed within the first year of completing their AAS and many before they graduate because of the high demand this industry has for our students,” said Viviane Marioneaux, coordinator of Digital Media, New Media Arts and New Media Communications.