• Second Largest Industry: Educational services accounted for about **13.5 million jobs** in 2008.
• Degree Requirements: Most teaching positions require at least a **bachelor's degree**, and nearly half of all educational services jobs require a master's or doctoral degree.
• Job Outlook: Retirements in various education professions are expected to **create many job openings**.

Nature of the Industry

**Education** is a major influence on job types and earnings. **Lifelong learning** is vital for acquiring new knowledge and upgrading skills in a rapidly changing world. The industry encompasses institutions offering academic education, career and technical instruction, and other training to millions of students annually.

MLM Education: Securing the Industry's Future

**Multi-Level Marketing (MLM)**, which includes network marketing, direct selling, and person-to-person marketing, has historically been "sneered at by academics." However, this scholarly snubbing is nearing an end.

The Push for Academic Acceptance

Michael Sheffield of the **MLM International Association (MLMIA)** believes academic approval (college courses and scholarly journals) is necessary for network marketing to be completely accepted in the business world.

A conference held at the University of Texas-El Paso (UTEP) brought together professors (from schools like **Baylor University** and **London's University of Westminster**) and MLM executives. Their mission was to bring MLM into the world of **"publish or perish."**

Educating the Educators

Professors' perceptions changed when they witnessed the professionalism of MLM advocates and their use of technologies like the Internet. They realized MLM is a hugely unresearched area.

The common perception that **MLM is "just a method"** and not an industry in itself is shifting. Companies like Sprint and MCI built their success using MLM, proving its legitimacy.

The Next Stage

Conference discussions focused on defining industry practices, reducing turnover, improving prospecting, and creating a **certification process** for companies and distributors. The biggest outcome was a proposal to found a **research center for studying the MLM industry**, successfully taking academic acceptance to the next level.