Vocational schools sometimes referred to as career colleges, technical schools, or trade schools, are popular for students who want to fast-track their way into a well-paying career. Rather than take four years to earn their degree, vocational training allows students to complete their studies in two years or less. Vocational education is meant to prepare individuals for specific types of trades, vocations, or occupations.
Name | Description | Example |
---|---|---|
Vocational School | usually a general term for technical, trade, and/or career schools | all of below |
Trade School | usually, a program that teaches a hands-on skill | plumber, electrician, windtech |
Technical School | usually, a school that has tech programs that are computer-based | CADD Design, web development |
Career School | usually, a program that is job-ready | Teaching Assistant, CNA, Bookkeeper |
Why Choose Vocational Training?
Vocational training centers and trade schools continue gaining popularity. Statistics show that a total of 16 million students enrolled in vocational schools in 2014 compared to a meager 9.66 million in 1999. This could be attributed to the high cost of a college education as well as the decline in the value of college and university degrees.
Importance of Vocational Training
Economies across the world have become quite diverse. This has caused the labor market to become more specialized. The demand for higher skill levels in the government and business sector continues to increase. This has led to an increase of vocational education through training initiatives by businesses, subsidized apprenticeship, and publicly funded training. Vocational education is essential for the following reasons:
- Vocational training sort of introduces employees to the workplace by imparting them with job-specific skills
- As the students receive specialized education, they have higher chances of getting employed compared to others
- Students acquire not only theoretical but also manual skills. Vocational education involves hands-on training
Some of the questions that students have to grapple with when deciding on whether they should join a vocational school include:-
- What’s a trade?
- What trades are there?
- What trade is right for me?
- What trade should I do?
- What trades are in demand?
What is a Trade School?
A trade school is a technical school, that arms students with skills that enable them to enter directly into a specific profession. Trade school programs are becoming more popular than conventional colleges for the following reasons:
- Students spend less time studying courses that are out of their scope of interest
- Trade education takes a minimum of 10 weeks and a maximum of 2 years
- Students who enroll for trade school degrees as soon as they complete high school enter the workforce earlier and with the relevant experience and training
- In a vocational or trade school, the class sizes are smaller hence students receive more hand-on training
- Trade school requirements are fewer and less complex compared to university or college requirements
The downside of studying in a trade school is that the student cannot transfer the credits to a university or community college. Also, students earn a certificate at the end of the program as opposed to a degree which you would earn in a college or university.
Before signing up for a program in a particular trade school, students should consider such factors as; the salary potential, how in-depth the program is, job availability, course marketability, and whether the school is accredited.
Rather than just looking up trade schools near me, try to establish what the best technical colleges in your area are.
What Kinds of Trade Careers are there?
Trade school careers are those that require very specific skill-sets or hands-on training. In truth, most of the people in today’s workforce started their career path with short courses from a technical college or a vocational school. A Trade School Degree can quickly boost your income and employability. In this section, we provide you with a list of trade degrees in high demand. These trade degrees prepare students for jobs in today’s market. Some of the highest paying and best trade degree jobs include:
- Agriculture Associate
- Boiler makers
- Construction Managers
- Plumbers, steamfitters, or pipefitters
- Fire Fighter
- Electricians
- Wind Turbine Technicians
- Solar PV Technicians
- Crane operators
- CNC machine tool programmers
- Industrial machinery mechanics
- Mobile heavy equipment mechanics
- Carpenters
- Brewing Technician
- Brick masons
Trade School Degrees
- Top 10 Online Schools for Brewing Science
- Top 10 Online Schools For Solar Energy Technicians
- Top 10 Online Schools For Wind Energy Technicians
- Top 10 Online Associates in Construction Management
- Top 10 Online Associates in Fire Science
- What Can I Do With Brewing Science Certificate or Degree?
- What Can I Do With A Solar Energy Technician Certificate?
- What Can I Do With A Wind Energy Technician Certificate?
- What Jobs Can I Do With A Construction Management Associates Degree?
- What Can I Do With A Fire Science Associates Degree?
What Kind Of Career School Degree Are There?
Here are some jobs in the category of what most people think of as Career Schools or Career Colleges. A lot of Community Colleges offer these programs as certificates or diplomas. And many have a career path plan to go from certificate to an associate’s degree without repeating classes. These are some of the best career college degrees that are in-demand:
- Child Development Associate (CDA)
- Teacher Assistant
- Certified Nursing Assistant (CNA)
- Graphic Design Artist
- Practical Nurse
- Medical Billing and Coding
- Pharmacy Assistant
- Occupational Therapy Aide
- Physical Therapy Aide
- Sales Managers
- Veterinary Assistant
- Bookkeeping/Accounting Assistant
- Legal Assistant
Career School Degrees
- Top 10 Online Medical Billing and Coding Associates Degrees
- What Can I Do With a Medical Billing and Coding Degree?
- Top 10 Online Associates in Accounting
- What Can I Do With An Associates in Accounting?
- Top 10 Online Community Colleges
- What Can I Do With A Community College Degree?
- Top 10 Online Associates in Business Administration
- What Can I Do With An Associates in Business Administration?
Some of the fastest-growing trade jobs are home healthcare aides, cosmetologists, dental assistants, automotive technicians, and marine mechanics.
For the longest time, women have excelled in such fields as education, law, health and dental care, business, and so on. However, times are fast-changing, and a growing number of women would rather work in fields that have previously been viewed as male-oriented. This is why most vocational schools have a list of trades for females among what they offer. Best trades for women who are keen on joining vocational schools include media arts, green energy, architecture and engineering, and HVAC technicians.
Although high-stress and demanding jobs tend to pay the most, there are a number of fun jobs that pay well without a degree. Some of the most common fun trade jobs are food and beverage, creative design and media arts, computers and technology, automotive technology, aviation, among others.
Joining college or university is a good option for some people, but there are many factors that could deter others. For starters, the cost of a university or college education is rather high, depending on where you live. Many students go to great lengths and even get into debt to earn their bachelor’s and master’s degrees. Such debts are often crippling on a graduate’s wage and take years to pay back. Enrolling in a vocational or a trade school is by far the easiest and most cost-effective option.