What are the top professional courses after 12th? This question has plagued the minds of many students throughout the years, and there is never a definitive answer. It’s difficult to be in a position where you have to choose between all the career options after 12th, especially getting mixed advice from every person you consult.
In 2023, the more you are exposed to information, the more you get confused. Should you take up literature, marketing, or business studies? It is important that you don’t get misled by the courses that worked for others without understanding which professional course is the right choice for you.
However, we have a clear answer to your confusion! In this blog, we list the top 14 professional courses after 12th, for science, commerce, and arts, that will help you choose the right course and earn a high-paying job.
What should I do after 12th for a high-paying job?
Just having finished high school, it is unlikely that you will get a high-paying job. You will have to work at a company as an intern or a salesperson and work your way up from the bottom rungs of the ladder– that is if the company will hire you.
In a country with the kind of population that we have, it is very easy to find people with college degrees to fill entry-level roles. Therefore, it won’t be easy for you to land a high-paying job with just a school diploma. Instead, you can opt for professional courses after 12th, or job oriented courses after 12th.
Instead of a traditional 3-year college degree, these courses are usually shorter and equip you to enter the working world immediately after completing them. They are intensive, industry-focused courses that require rigorous training and often host recruitment drives for their students.
Bonus Read: Best Courses After 12th for Commerce, Science, and Arts – 2023
Which is the best course for the future?
We might not be able to tell the future but with expertise and experience, I can predict that the digital industry is the way to go because of rapid digitization in every industry.
It’s 2023, and the world has just recovered from a pandemic. They might be out and about but they still prefer shopping digitally, working digitally, and socially interacting digitally. Hence, if you have a digitally influenced job, you
The digital industry is only going to grow from here on out, as it has been doing since 2010. Digital marketing has to be, if not the absolute best, but definitely one of the top five, career options after 12th for any stream.
Now that we have all of this out of the way, let’s begin.
Quick Read
Don’t have the time to read the entire blog?
We’ve curated a table of the most popular professional courses in 2023 along with the to institutes from all the lists given below based on our research and opinion.
Professional Courses After 12th | Top Institute |
---|---|
Digital Marketing | Thakur College of Science and Commerce (Autonomous), KES Shroff College (Autonomous), KPB Hinduja College of Commerce, Pillai College of Arts, Commerce & Science (Autonomous), Niranjan Hiranandani School Of Management And Real Estate, Bhavans College |
Designing | MAAC |
Teaching | Amity University |
Literature | Miranda House University |
Therapist/Counsellor | Christ University |
Economics | Fergusson College |
Coding | Coding Ninjas |
Engineering | IIT |
Medicine | AIIMS |
Top 6 Professional Courses After 12th Arts
Arts has always been considered an easy stream. However, very few know the writing, research, and communication skills you build upon along with understanding perception and expression much better.
Keeping that in mind, we have put together a list of job-oriented courses after 12th arts that lead to professional qualifications and careers in the humanities.
1. Digital Business
While not strictly a humanitarian field, a digital marketing course would be ideal as, with your knowledge of economics, and your mastery of spin, you could be a great marketer in no time. Digital is also the fastest-growing vertical in 2023, due to the growth in internet-based transactions over the past year.
You can learn digital marketing through a conventional 3/4-year undergraduate degree. Alternatively, you could opt for a 2-year postgraduate degree from the State University.
However, we would recommend that you pursue an undergraduate degree as it would give you plenty of time to intern and learn through practical experience. You can also begin working directly after graduating from college with this option.
If you are looking for an undergraduate degree, we would strongly recommend you consider BBA in Digital Business as it gaining huge popularity among students. In addition to theoretical coursework, BBA in Digital Business program provides its students with a hands-on experience through internships, and projects.
Here’s what students of Bachelors in Digital Business have to say about the degree:
Top Institutes:
- Thakur College of Science and Commerce (Autonomous)
- KES Shroff College (Autonomous)
- KPB Hinduja College of Commerce
- Pillai College of Arts, Commerce & Science ( Autonomous)
- HSNC University
- Bhavans College
Detailed Course Information & Counseling – https://iide.co/bachelors-in-digital-business/
2. Digital Designing
Digital design, also known as graphic designing, are professional courses after 12th arts that combine your creative skills along with your business acumen in order to create a stellar corporate design that helps the brand stand out and represents everything it stands for at the same time.
Digital designing can be pursued either through one of the standalone 6-month job-oriented courses after 12th arts, as a postgraduate specialised option, or even a separate undergraduate course under a wider array of design.
Our recommendation is to opt for one of the many 6-month job-oriented courses available in the market, alongside another undergraduate degree that doesn’t specialise in design but rather in media skills. For example, a Bachelor’s in Mass Media. This will give you a good base for your chosen career.
Top Institutes:
- Zee Institute of Creative Arts (Mumbai)
- Arena Animation (All over India)
- Symbiosis Institute of Technical Design (Pune, Maharashtra)


3. Teaching
A professorial or teaching career is a great career option after 12th arts. However, unfortunately, none of the courses after 12th arts directly focus on this.
A very good option, however, is some of the new integrated courses combining undergraduate and postgraduate studies that are becoming popular, starting out with a 3-year Bachelor’s in Arts course, and finishing with a 2-year Bachelors in Education.
Top Institutes:
- Amity University (Lucknow)
- Lovely Professional University (Phagwara)
- Kasturi Ram College of Higher Education (Delhi)
4. Literature
Maybe you’ve always been a big reader. Maybe you just really love analyzing text. At any rate, a doctorate in Literature is one of the well-sought-after career options after 12th arts. However, much like other humanities specializations, there are no specific undergraduate courses focusing only on this stream.
Doctorates in literature move on to a professorial career, work for top literary magazines, and write their own books and textbooks. This translates into a monetarily satisfactory career. But before you apply for a PhD in Literature, you will need to complete at least one of the available undergraduate courses after 12th arts.
We recommend that you pick one of the Bachelor’s in Arts courses after 12th arts. This option provides you with not just general knowledge in humanities, as well as introductions to subjects like psychology and sociology, but also allows you to build a strong base in Literature, your future specialization.
Top Institutes:
- Miranda House University (Delhi)
- Saint Xavier’s College (Mumbai)
- Saint Stephen’s College (Delhi)


5. Therapist/Counsellor
While you need an MBBS degree in order to pursue a career in psychiatry, there are several options available for humanities students in order to become a therapist or a counsellor.
While you have already been introduced to psychology as a subject in high school, much more in-depth study is needed to become a certified professional in this area. You can do this by pursuing one of the many available BA courses after 12th arts and specializing in psychology, and go on to pursue a postgraduate diploma in clinical or applied psychology. Conversely, you can also pursue a Master’s in any degree of psychology. After this, you could also choose to pursue a PhD.
Top Institutes:
- Christ University (Bengaluru)
- Fergusson College (Pune)
- Saint Xavier’s College (Mumbai)
6. Economics
Courses after 12th arts in Economics are sought by many students. However, unfortunately, there are no direct courses you can pursue in this case. You can, however, pursue a Master’s in Economics after an undergraduate degree, like BA. This will also help you build up a strong base for your master’s degree.
Top Institutes:
Christ University (Bengaluru)
- Loyola College (Chennai)
- Lady Shri Ram College for Women (Delhi)
- Fergusson College (Pune)
Top 4 Professional Courses After 12th Commerce
If you have chosen commerce in 12th, then you are probably looking to make a career in marketing, business, trade, banking or accounts. But, in 2023, the scope of commerce and careers have rapidly increased.
1. Digital Business
Businesses are going and growing on digital platforms. In 2023, both consumers and entrepreneurs think of eCommerce, social commerce, and D2C businesses as challenging but the most profitable ones.
If you have a business idea in mind but lack the execution skills or want to be an entrepreneur but don’t know where to start, a professional course after 12th in digital business is what you need!
You can pursue a degree such as B.Com with a specialization in Digital Business to start your journey. Not only budding entrepreneurs but those who want to make a career in building digital businesses of other clients can also apply for this course.
Top Institutes:
- Thakur College of Science & Commerce (Mumbai)
- Jain University (Bengaluru)
- KPB Hinduja College
- Pillai College of Arts, Commerce & Science
- Niranjan Hiranandani School Of Management And Real Estate
- Bhavans College (Autonomous)
- KES Shroff College (Autonomous)
2. Digital Design
Digital design professional courses after 12th commerce teach you to design branded communication for an organization.
What does this mean?
Well, advertising is just a part of the communication a brand puts out through the course of its existence. It also needs to communicate through creatives, and even things like logo placement and design are ways for brands to subtly communicate messages to its audience. All of this is what is taught to you in digital design professional courses after 12th commerce.
This is also an area of increased investment for brands since the lockdown as anything digital is being appreciated more by consumers, and hence is only going to grow in demand in the coming years. This is one of the best career options after 12th commerce for the creative souls.
Top Institutes:
- Zee Institute of Creative Art (Metro Cities of India)
- Vogue Institute of Art and Design (Bengaluru)


3. Business Administration
BBA stands for Bachelor in Business Administration. If you want to own your own business, then this is one of the best professional courses after 12th for you. It will teach you everything there is to know about managing an enterprise and help you develop the leadership skills to be in charge!
Top Institutes:
- Christ University (Bengaluru)
- Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies (Mumbai)
- Symbiosis International University (Pune)
- Shaheed Sukhdev College for Business Studies (Delhi)
Top 4 Professional Courses After 12th Science
Having taken science in school, you already know that it is a very nuanced field. To pursue career options after 12th science directly is a little dangerous, as making even one small mistake or not having the right specialization in science-related fields can have disastrous consequences.
That being said, we also know that not everyone who has completed their schooling with a science diploma wishes to pursue career options after 12th science. So, we have a little bit of everything here– traditional job-oriented courses after 12th science and a few non-traditional options that will allow you to explore many different fields and discover your true area of interest while at the same time not closing off any career opportunities for you.
1. Digital Marketing
Being one of the best career options after 12th rather than a course, digital marketing is no longer the future. It is the present.
Digital marketing courses after 12th science will hone your already sharp analytical skills and allow you to connect to a customer in the most personal way possible for a brand– right into their devices, that they’re glued to all day.
Digital consumption has increased multifold in 2022 and will increase more in 2023 and years to come.
This means only one thing– massive growth for the digital industry. More people wanting to advertise would mean more revenue generated through digital platforms, equaling more employment opportunities and greater potential. This is why we think digital marketing courses after science are such a great idea if you’re not really interested in pursuing a science-related career, but still want a job-oriented course after 12th science that will pay well and have job security.
Best Institutes:
- IIDE – Indian Institute of Digital Education (Global)
- Delhi School of Internet Marketing (Delhi)
2. Coding
Similar to the above, coding is also one of the digital professional courses after 12th science that will help build you one of the most solid careers in this current economy.
What is coding?
Well, have you ever seen a website you really admired? Or maybe an app? Ever wonder who made these websites or apps?
It was more than likely a coder sitting maybe continents away from you, whose work managed to reach you in such a personal way. This is why coding is one of the most attractive professional courses after 12th science to pursue. What’s more, you can use it for many different purposes, like web design and software design as well!
Top Institutes:
- The Valley Bootcamp (Bengaluru)
- Coding Ninjas (Delhi)
3. Engineering
This is one of the career options after 12th science that we are sure you’ve heard of. Engineering is one of the lucrative career options after professional courses after 12th science.
Engineering brings in the money but it requires a long-term commitment of hard work and discipline from you. You should pick this career option only if you really want to work in engineering. Engineering is a tough nut to crack and if you aren’t passionate or want to pursue a different career, it is not the best choice.
Top Institutes:
- Indian Institute of Technology (Several branches – the top being Mumbai, Delhi)
- National Institute of Technology (several branches – the top being Tiruchirapalli, Karnataka)
- Anna University (Chennai, Tamil Nadu)
4. Medicine
The medical field is not just a well-respected profession, but also a very well-paying one. Our doctors and nurses were ] the frontline warriors in the battle against COVID-19 and are performing some of the greatest acts of service to this country possible today.
Within medicine, too, there are many specialisations: You can be a traditional doctor i.e physician. Or, you could be a surgeon. Or a nurse. Or a psychiatrist. Or a dentist, dermatologist, consultant, or veterinarian … the possibilities are as limitless. You can choose which area of medicine you feel an affinity towards, and pursue a specialised degree in that post a general degree in medicine.
Top Institutes:
- All Indian Institute of Medical Sciences (New Delhi)
- Post Graduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (Chandigarh)
- Christian Medical College (Vellore)
- National Institute of Mental Health & Neuro Sciences (Bengaluru)
To Conclude
If learning cutting-edge, customized, and real-world relevant content from practising industry professionals and experts from the comfort of your own home is what you’re looking for, then courses like our online digital marketing course would be a perfect match.
But before you make a decision, try our free masterclass led by Mr. Karan Shah, the founder, and CEO of IIDE, and see for yourself if our learning style works for you.
We hope you enjoyed this list of our picks of the best job-oriented professional courses after 12th. If you gained something from it, share it with your friends who were struggling with the same doubts as you, and comment your thoughts down below!

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