From: http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/2015/sep/03/college-guide-vocational-education/
For most students, post-high school education means just one thing: a degree from a four-year college.
In the fall of 2014, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported that 68.4 percent of high school graduates from the preceding school year were enrolled in college, with two out of three of those attending four-year schools.
It’s what Tim Lopez, a counselor at Eastlake High School in Chula Vista, sees in the majority of the students at his school. They’ve been on a college path, have worked to keep up their grades and are keeping their opportunities open for higher education.
“Most of them have it in their mind that they’re going to go to a university, and they try to pursue that,” said Lopez, who has been at the school for more than a decade. He estimates that 40 percent of Eastlake grads immediately go to four-year schools.
However, four-year schools aren’t the only educational option, and Lopez works with many students to select a different path.
Many students choose to go to two-year community colleges. Nearly half of all undergraduate students in the United States are enrolled in two-year schools, reports the American Association of Community Colleges.
Others choose trade schools to learn a specific job to prepare them to join the workforce. In 2010, after the recession played havoc with the job market, enrollment in mostly private trade schools jumped by nearly five times from the pre-recession era, reported the Government Accountability Office.
Students that go that route have found success. According to Business Insider, vocational schools are seeing job placement rates close to 100 percent since the recession began, with average starting salaries of more than $40,000. According to a New York Times story, 27 percent of vocational school graduates now earn as much or more as students who graduate with a four-year degree.
Vocational education has long been popular in Europe, but often has been thought of as a lower form of education in the U.S. — a bias that is proving harmful, said Mark Phillips, a professor at San Francisco State University, who wrote a commentary for the Washington Post in 2012 headlined, “Why we need vocational education.”
“Many of the skills most needed to compete in the global market of the 21st century are technical skills that fall into the technical-vocational area,” he wrote. He suggests the United States focus on raising vocational education to a higher level to boost jobs, production and our economy.
Helping students
For those high school graduates who decide not to join the military, enter their family’s business or go straight into the general workforce, Lopez helps point students in the right educational direction.
“Say they want to go into being a hairstylist or something that you wouldn’t think needs a college education, then those are the kids we might spend time with and say, these are the kinds of programs that are offered and these are where you can get the training,” he said.
He recalls one student telling him that he wanted to be an auto mechanic, so Lopez helped direct him toward a private trade school in Arizona that fit his needs. He directed another student, interested in becoming a hairstylist toward the cosmetology program at San Diego City College.
One thing Lopez believes is important is to expose students in high school to career surveys and career interviews with members of the community to help them determine their interests and goals. That can help students decide which type of school is best for them — two-year, four-year or specific trade school.
Community college: With skyrocketing costs of higher education — and no jobs guaranteed for those with four-year diplomas — attendance in the nation’s 1,132 two-year schools in 2012-13 climbed to more than 4 million (full-time) and 3 million (part-time), reports the American Association of Community Colleges.
Students are able to live at home and cut costs while getting their undergrad requirements out of the way, or focus on practical, job-oriented certification programs in such fields as nursing, cosmetology, computers and auto mechanics. Some schools, such as San Diego City College, offer apprenticeship programs in contracting, plumbing, heating and air conditioning and electrical work.
Community colleges also offer a transition period for students to continue their education while trying to decide what to study at a four-year school.
One caveat, however: with budget cuts, community colleges have been unable to offer the number of classes they once did, meaning some students haven’t been able to get the classes they want. Lopez says some former Eastlake students have told him that has delayed their progress toward transferring to a four-year school.
Trade school: The number of these schools has grown rapidly as more students have turned toward them as a way to find work in a specific field (such as cooking and computer programming or tech), so students need to do their homework when selecting one.
The U.S. Department of Education provides a database to check on the accreditation of schools at ope.ed.gov/accreditation. If schools are accredited, students can be eligible for a variety of scholarships and loans.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the most popular vocational programs (in order of participation) are: business, health, trade and industry and technology.
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