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Vocational education in the United States varies from state to state. Vocational schools or tech schools are post-secondary schools (students usually enroll after graduating from high school or obtaining their GEDs) that teach the skills necessary to help students acquire jobs in specific industries. The majority of postsecondary career education is provided by proprietary (privately-owned) career institutions. About 30 percent of all credentials in teaching are provided by two-year community colleges, which also offer courses transferable to four-year universities. Other programs are offered through military teaching or government-operated adult education centers.[1]
Historically, vocational education was considered less financially lucrative in the long term than a bachelor's degree. There are several trade school jobs that earn a respectable income at much less cost in time and money for training.[2] Even ten years after graduation, there are many people with a certificate or associate degree who earn more money than those with a degree.[3][4][5]
Historically, high schools have offered vocational courses such as home economics, wood and metal shop, typing, business courses, drafting, construction, and auto repair. However, for a number of reasons, many schools have cut those programs. Some schools no longer have the funding to support these programs, and schools have since put more emphasis on academics for all students because of standards based education reform. School-to-Work is a series of federal and state initiatives to link academics to work, sometimes including gaining work experience on a job site without pay.[6]
In 2023, enrollment in "vocational-focused community colleges rose 16%" compared to 2022.[7]
- ^ Karen Levesque; et al. (July 2008). Career and Technical Education in the United States (PDF). Washington: United States Department of Education. p. 78.
- ^ Sensei (2022-10-29). "Best Highest Paying Trade School Jobs". Your College Sensei. Retrieved 2023-12-05.
- ^ Torpey, Elka (January 2019). "High-wage occupations by typical entry-level education, 2017". Bureau of Labor Statistics. Department of Labor. Retrieved February 9, 2019.
Overall, wages are higher in occupations typically requiring a degree for entry than in occupations typically requiring less education. But that's not always the case.
- ^ Carnevale, Anthony (January 2020). "The Overlooked Value of Certificates and Associate's Degrees: What Students Need to Know Before They Go to College". Center on Education and the Workforce. Georgetown University. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
This report examines the labor-market value of associate's degrees and certificate programs, finding that field of study especially influences future earnings for these programs since they are tightly linked with specific occupations.
- ^ Marcus, Jon (20 November 2020). "More people with bachelor's degrees go back to school to learn skilled trades". The Hechinger Report.
A lot of other people also have invested time and money getting four-year degrees only to return for career and technical education in fields ranging from firefighting to automation to nursing, in which jobs are relatively plentiful and salaries and benefits comparatively good, but which require faster and far less costly certificates and associate degrees.
- ^ "elaws-Fair Labor Standards Act Advisor". Retrieved 14 December 2012.
- ^ Journal, Te-Ping Chen | Photographs by Philip Cheung for The Wall Street. "How Gen Z Is Becoming the Toolbelt Generation". WSJ. Retrieved 2024-04-01.