Vocational Schools have more to offer

For many years, it has seemed like for many people, the only way to succeed was with a college degree, and of course, the huge debt that goes with it. But while this has become accepted as the only route to a valued career, vocational schools have been helping people acquire the job-specific skills they need to launch a rewarding, valued career in a given profession.

There are advantages to this, firstly it takes much less time than a college degree, with 2-year courses being the average but for some industries even less. Tied to that, a 2-year or less course at a vocational school not only gets your career started and earning money sooner, but it also costs much less, to begin with, avoiding those long-term student debts that so many people end up struggling with for years.

In fact, with so much focus on academic colleges, many areas of the industry are struggling to meet the demand for skilled employees, and even the government is now rightly pointing out that we need more of the skills that vocational schools produce, but how do you know if it’s for you? The cost difference is important, but when it is your career path being chosen, that is your future and should be the main focus of the decision.

One of the biggest challenges over the next two decades is job security, so with vocational schools providing very specific skill training for chosen careers, looking at examples such as the healthcare or construction industry, we can see that here, automation is unlikely to cause as many problems as in other areas. For on-site work, operating heavy machinery, and so on, or working directly caring for patients, those skills will be in demand for a long time to come. Contrast this with the reports that many managerial and administrative jobs could disappear by 2030 through automation, and the idea of a vocational college is even more attractive.

With lower overall costs and a faster path into earning, vocational schools provide a more economical route to acquiring valuable skills, and as we have seen, with many career paths to choose from that offer sustainable and rewarding careers, they provide students with another approach that has much to offer. The mindset of ‘college or bust’ really is meaningless today, and vocational schools are a valid choice for anyone if that is the best way to acquire the skills for their chosen career path.

While social pressure may push towards college, this is changing, as society is recognizing the value of the practical skills that many vocational schools deliver, and for anyone that is thinking about their future career, a vocational school that delivers those valuable practical skills should be a choice to consider.