Should I Consider a Career College or Technical School?
If you have just graduated from high school and are anxious to jump into the job market quickly, and are worried that a traditional four-year university may take too long, then a career college or technical school may make more sense for you. At a career college or technical school you can pursue a range of studies and get degrees in many high-growth fields such as healthcare, information technology, business, engineering, and criminal justice.
Career colleges and technical schools are ideal for students who are looking for a practical education in the least amount of time. There are lots of plusses to attending a career college or technical school. For example, many career colleges and technical schools don’t require entrance exams such as SATs or ACTs. Also, career colleges and technical schools are often cheaper, closer to home and offer a faster and more flexible alternative to secondary education through online courses, distance learning and evening classes. Many career colleges and technical schools also offer brief intensive courses that can be taken one at a time. In addition, career colleges and technical schools boast good job placement rates, and professors who have real-life job experience.
The downside to attending a career college or technical college is that the education at such schools is generally not as broad as at a traditional university. Some people feel that students are best served by getting a traditional broad liberal arts education, because they feel it will allow students to pursue a wider range of job possibilities rather than a narrow, highly technical or specialized education that would prepare them for only one type of job with specific skills. However, transferring to a four-year college later will most likely be easy if you decide later that you want to continue on. Most four-year colleges find that serious graduates of career colleges and technical schools make excellent transferees.