It turns out giving sponge-baths and emptying bedpans will earn you the most money straight out of college.

According to a survey given to all 2003 NIU baccalaureate degree graduates, nursing is the top-paying field for students straight out of college.

“Right now, there’s such a terrible shortage in the nation that our students are guaranteed a job right out of college,” nursing instructor Mary Gawrys said. “Most students are offered jobs their junior year.”

There are nearly 100,000 vacant nursing positions in long-term care facilities across the nation. This shortage is costing these facilities an estimated $4 billion a year in recruitment and training expenses.

Hospitals are offering bonuses and incentives for graduates, such as paying back student loans.

“Nurses have always done well,” Gawrys said. “But now, hospitals are giving students bonuses of anywhere from $10,000 to $20,000 to work for them.”

On the survey, nursing, with an average starting salary of $43,797, tops the list of salaries. Closely following are industrial engineering at $41,875, operations management at $41,699, mechanical engineering at $41,164 and technology at $39,493.

“If you pick an area where there’s a large population, you’ve got a need for nurses there,” Career Services counselor Dan Bingley said. “A nursing major can really choose to go anywhere.”

There has been an increase in applicants for the School of Nursing, but the school accepts only 70 per semester. There were about 500 applicants for the 140 openings this year alone.

“We are trying to increase the enrollment, but there’s also a shortage of faculty for nursing,” Gawrys said. “Pretty much anything having to do with nursing right now is in a shortage.”

The School of Nursing also has seen an increase in students who already have completed other majors and want to make the switch to nursing. There are nursing students with majors in psychology, accounting, and chemistry.

“We have seen a high increase in students transferring from other majors to nursing,” Gawrys said. “However, it is still an extremely female-dominated field, with only 5 to 8 percent male enrollment.”

The School of Nursing has its own job fair, which is separate from the campus-wide job fairs held in the fall and spring. It is organized by the Student Nurse Organization and various hospitals come to recruit nurses for their institutions.

Career Services has been able to recruit nursing students with the Cooperative Work Study Grant.

“With this grant, we pay around eight school nurses’ wages for their summer clinical experiences,” Bingley said. “Hospitals and usually about 60 to 70 nursing majors participate in the summer program. It’s a useful recruiting tool.”