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Tech School Advantages Over College

October 22, 2013 By Gail Gardner 34 Comments

Engineering Versus Tech School
Infographic created by @michellepais Credit: Visual.ly @Visually

We are conditioned throughout life to believe we must go to college. But that isn’t true – especially now when people with experience and advanced degrees are unemployed in large numbers.

I previously wrote this post on career choices that contains some really valuable tips on locating available jobs. In it I mention there are THREE MILLION openings businesses are having trouble filling because applicants don’t have SKILLS.

Table of Contents

  • Tech School Benefits
    • Cost
    • Focus
    • Convenience
    • Time
  • Tech Jobs
    • Bad Advice
      • Gail Gardner
      • Latest posts by Gail Gardner (see all)

Tech School Benefits

College is one thing; job skills are often something you can only acquire through doing. That is why you should consider tech school if you want to make sure your money is well spent.

FIRST make sure there are jobs available in your desired field. Do NOT take a school’s word for it because they are selling education. They have to make it sound good to get students into their programs.

Verify real job demand BEFORE you get training.
How to do it is explained in the post linked above.

Choosing where to get an education can be a decision that is hard on a lot of students. If you already know what field you want to go into, that should narrow down your options quite a bit.

If you are interested in a career in healthcare, computer technology, manufacturing or business you may want to look into attending a tech school.

There are a lot of advantages of tech school over college. Following are five reasons at the top of the list.

Cost

Many technical schools will cost a lot less than a four-year college or university. Knowing exactly what you want to do and going to a school that focuses on that interest can end up saving you a lot of money, both now and in the long run.

The Computer Systems Institute program finder spotlights multiple programs that have a promising job outlook. Use this search tool to find the tech school for you. The Computer Systems Institute career training finder spotlights multiple tech school programs in both clinical and administrative tracks

Focus

Already knowing what you want to focus on in school gives you an advantage over many of the rest of your peers. Often, students will begin college when they are still undecided in which field they will focus, only to add two or three years to their degree because they don’t know what they are doing.

If you know what you want, a technical school will give you the focus you need to fly through school and end up with a job that is directly related to your field of study. You will not have to spend years doing the general education that everyone does while they try to figure their life out.

Jump right into your technical classes, focusing on what is important to you, graduate quickly and be earning a living before your peers are even through their first couple of years in college.

Convenience

Many technical schools are close to home and offer a wide range of class times and locations. If you work during the day, you are more likely to find night classes at a tech college than you would at a typical university.

If you need online classes, check with the administration at your local school to see if there are some classes you can do while you are at home with the kids, at a desk at work, or anywhere else.

Many professors at technical schools understand that you have a busy life and will work with you to ensure that you get the education you need, being flexible without stressing you out.

Time

Going to a tech school can save you a lot of time because you will not have to take all of the general courses that other college students have to take. Many programs have students graduating six months after they start, and others last about two years.

Attend Tech school to get done quickly and get a job doing what you love.

You will not waste four years of your life in college, racking up 10s of 1000s of dollars you’ll have to pay back. What if you don’t get a job or you can’t make enough money to service that debt and live, too?

Tech Jobs

One of the most important reasons to choose a tech school instead of college is that they often have relationships with local employers. The best tech schools develop their training working with employers who are ready to hire graduates.

Many times, a tech school has positions lined up for their graduates long before they finish their training.  If you have a particular employer in mind, contact them to find out what programs they prefer to see applicants complete.

There are many other advantages that come from going to a technical school. Not only are they cheaper, but they allow you to focus on what you want to do and will get you through your education a lot faster than a university. In addition, they are convenient and work well for the busy worker, the single mom, or anyone else with a crazy schedule.

Bad Advice

I encourage parents, educators and older adults to stop assuming that the world has not changed.  When I started college, working for one company your entire career was common.

Even though I got hired at 20, even I didn’t get my 30 years in before IBM eliminated real pensions and pushed older employees towards the exits. Very few employees today will ever work for one employer.

We need to stop insisting everyone go to college because there are fewer and fewer positions that pay enough to repay that debt and provide a living wage. Instead of starting out deeply in debt they can learn a skill and start earning.

For those who remain unconvinced, I offer this video that explains the oft quoted concept that college graduates earn more:

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Gail Gardner

Small Business Marketing Strategist at GrowMap
Gail Gardner is the founder of GrowMap.com. She is a Small Business Marketing Strategist who mentors small businesses, bloggers, and freelancers. After 23 years in the field with IBM and 5.5 years managing AdWords accounts, her focus shifted to small business marketing strategy. GrowMap.com is listed by Cision as a Top 100 Site for Marketers and has received three Small Business Influencer Awards from Small Business Trends. Named by D&B a Top 50 SMB Influencer on Twitter, you can follow Gail @GrowMap and on LinkedIn.
My Twitter profileMy Facebook profileMy Google+ profileMy LinkedIn profileMy Pinterest profileMy Tumblr blogMy YouTube channel

Latest posts by Gail Gardner (see all)

  • Free Mentoring: How to Use the Inexpensive CRM Bigin to Increase Income - December 9, 2020
  • How to Create a Blog to Promote Your Services - December 9, 2020
  • Influencer Marketing Guide For Maximum Business Growth - November 26, 2020
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Filed Under: Careers, Edu, Gov't, Legal Tagged With: careers, education, tech school

Comments

  1. Jenna Hunter says

    May 9, 2019 at 6:40 pm

    Going to school has always been a matter of big importance in my family. Sometimes my nephew likes to brag that he got finished with college super fast. So it’s helpful to know that technical colleges can help cut down on time because you can just skip the general classes

    Reply
  2. Hrithik says

    May 9, 2017 at 11:36 pm

    Education is like food or Oxygen without these two things you can’t live in this world so it’s very important and it all depends on you how you will take it through colleges or digital media

    Reply
  3. dronacharya says

    September 17, 2016 at 9:37 am

    If you want to grow in your life so education is most important to grow up now a days with out education nothing stand anywhere.
    dronacharya would love you to read ..REINFORCING RESEARCHMy Profile

    Reply
  4. dronacharya says

    September 17, 2016 at 9:32 am

    If your get best education so you make future bright and happiness. Because good education is best education.
    dronacharya would love you to read ..REINFORCING RESEARCHMy Profile

    Reply
  5. Jackstace says

    July 29, 2016 at 12:18 pm

    Hi Gail Gardner!!
    Thanks for writing such an excellent blog for us. I think that Technical education has become necessary for all age group people. Whether he/she is working person or retire person.
    Choosing where to get an education can be a decision that is hard on a lot of students. If you already know what field you want to go into, that should narrow down your options quite a bit.
    regards :
    jackestack
    Jackstace would love you to read ..Hello world!My Profile

    Reply
  6. Keith K. Moffitt says

    July 11, 2016 at 11:01 am

    Hi Gail Gardner,

    Thanks for sharing such a nice article!!

    I agree that there are tons of advantages of Tech school over colleges. The best part of tech schools is that they develop their training working with employers who are ready to hire graduates. Yes even I thought that college is a really slow way to learn something.

    Once you have decided then you need to be prepare for selecting a Tech school as it is very important step. We need to make sure that the school we choose for education is worth for money. Consult with the management of the school to resolve all your queries regarding the course you wish to join.

    Regards
    Keith

    Reply
  7. Silas Knight says

    May 24, 2016 at 9:43 pm

    It does seem that going to a tech school has a lot of good benefits. It’s great that it costs a lot less than a traditional college, that is a huge plus. I remember money being my biggest worry in college. If you know what you want to do, going to a tech school sounds like a good idea.

    Reply
  8. Dronacharya says

    May 21, 2016 at 10:45 am

    Very intresting article for the ..making a good life. bcz this article gives many advice how to utilize school time and college time, time is most important in life , so this article gives advice how to save time .how to make a good carrer and focus on my career. thank you so much ….for giving…info..related to college life & school life…

    Reply
  9. Jay Kay says

    May 5, 2016 at 10:58 am

    Nice article. I enjoyed reading and like the points you have made. we should encourage and appreciate originality, creativity and innovation. Great ways suggested for managing and taking effective class for different students. Informative and interesting thank you for sharing. Nice points suggested for effective discussion. Interesting and informative post.

    Reply
  10. Nikita yadav says

    April 15, 2016 at 7:19 am

    You’ve got some interesting ideas. thanks for sharing.
    Thank you for sharing the ideas that we need education in a better ways to create the main aim to finalize the great carrier in the beat possible ways to guide the future in a proper ways.
    Nikita yadav would love you to read ..NEWS AND EVENTSMy Profile

    Reply
  11. zakia says

    April 2, 2016 at 10:12 am

    Now a days technical education is very important for the career. The pattern of life evolving in this age is very much different from the one we would find in our society even some fifty years back. Technical Education imparts knowledge of specific trade, craft or profession.
    zakia would love you to read ..REINFORCING RESEARCHMy Profile

    Reply
  12. bijendra says

    June 17, 2015 at 11:10 am

    At this time the the technical courses computer science.
    the engineering is the best way for technical job.
    In the software field the computer science engg. is good
    bijendra would love you to read ..Best engineering College in Delhi-NCR | Private College in NoidaMy Profile

    Reply
  13. bijendra says

    May 15, 2015 at 12:56 pm

    Colleges are nothing but series of semesters with a fixed number of courses. The thing that matters to some companies is degree and to some knowledge.
    bijendra would love you to read ..homeMy Profile

    Reply
  14. sudhirarya says

    May 22, 2014 at 12:49 pm

    Technical educations are different from other educations, it is helpful for your best career.many different things are learns like technically.
    sudhirarya would love you to read ..front tabsMy Profile

    Reply
  15. Lavneet Sharma says

    March 8, 2014 at 2:10 pm

    Colleges are nothing but series of semesters with a fixed number of courses. The thing that matters to some companies is degree and to some knowledge.

    Reply
  16. herbert says

    February 21, 2014 at 7:14 am

    Very nice post about tech educational. Now days, almost in every field tech education is necessary and it gives more opportunities of jobs. I have also completed Science graduation degree but after that for getting best job I am pursuing Computer technical course.

    Reply
  17. Zareen says

    January 29, 2014 at 1:53 pm

    After going through your above mentioned article, i would like to recommend Tech School instead of College to the students. There are several benefits of Tech School you have mentioned above.
    Zareen would love you to read ..SASOL Bursary Programme 2015 for StudentsMy Profile

    Reply
  18. Vivek Jain says

    January 22, 2014 at 7:53 pm

    Now a days,
    Technical education has become necessary for all age group people. Whether he/she is working person or retire person.
    In this way, Tech School are playing a vital role to explore their technical knowledge.
    .
    Surely, they give Degree or Diploma for completing these courses, but the knowledge you get from here is really helpful in today’s environment.
    It’s really a nice and deep article in this sense.
    Thanks for sharing this article about Tech facts.. 🙂
    Vivek Jain would love you to read ..Polytechnic Diploma Jobs and Career after 10th & 12th in IndiaMy Profile

    Reply
  19. Donald Quixote says

    December 30, 2013 at 9:02 pm

    You’ve got some interesting ideas. I completely hate borrowing money for school, in the video, it talks about how school debt is exceeding Credit Card debt…that’s ridiculous. However, it’s still seems to be incredibly important to get a degree just because that’s the kind of person that is more likely to get hired, which is unfortunate, but that’s how life is.

    Reply
    • Gail Gardner says

      December 30, 2013 at 11:29 pm

      Hello Donald,

      Actually, we have been conditioned to believe we must have a degree and that is simply not true for most people. If you want to work for a corporation or as a doctor or attorney then you need a degree. But even in a corporation, during my time at IBM I saw management tell co-workers with B.S. degrees that they needed to get a Masters degree while simultaneously bugging me to accept a promotion into management with only an A.A. degree in music.

      Most skills are better learned hands-on. Why pay for college when you could start in a free internship and move into a paid internship? Instead of going into debt to get an education which may or may not teach you skills that you can earn a living at you can get paid to develop valuable skills and work yourself into a position that already exists.
      Gail Gardner would love you to read ..WANTED: Bloggers Interested in Collaborating to Increase Their IncomesMy Profile

      Reply
  20. Prabhat singh says

    November 27, 2013 at 6:18 am

    Best Article , Today without technical education the student have less opportunity for job. The university also apply to the technical education .

    Reply
  21. ved prakash says

    November 26, 2013 at 10:43 am

    now these days technical courses are in top trend specially computers & IT , but in few days rush will become double. looks dangerous for market

    Reply
  22. Donald Quixote says

    November 20, 2013 at 10:16 pm

    Before you go into school make sure to check around where you live for specific job opps rather than the market in general. There may be huge demand in the middles of Nebraska but you don’t want to live there so don’t invest in the schooling.

    Reply
  23. vishvast says

    October 29, 2013 at 4:10 am

    hi thanks for this article it was very nice one tech school advantages were well described

    Reply
  24. anubhav mishra says

    October 27, 2013 at 9:06 am

    Seriously, you have done a lots of hard work, i am subscribing to your blog post, because the talent that you have is amazing and i appreciate your hard work, your words are amazing in your posts and i want to hear more from you.

    Reply
  25. Ruthanne Crosby says

    October 27, 2013 at 5:57 am

    Despite of low cost often promoted by vocational schools and the shorter duration, technical programs do sometimes have higher fees and program-related costs. A tool and die student, for instance, is often required to purchase hundreds or thousands of dollars in equipment and tools to use during the course of his program. Other programs may involve materials and workshop fees or required participation in professional industry associations.

    Reply
  26. Lynn says

    October 26, 2013 at 8:09 pm

    Excellent article! I’m going through this with my children now that they’re in high school, trying to explain that they have options other than those that are part of the constant refrain of the public school these days which tries to make it sound like college is the only choice they have if they want a “good” job.

    As someone who spent years paying off student loan debt for a degree I don’t even use, I am especially sensitive to what seems like a lot of brainwashing going on these days.

    I write for a living and have a very self-driven lifestyle that a cubicle job could never give me, and my accounting degree is nothing more than a (very large) sheet of paper shoved into a closet. I worry that my kids are going to get trapped in that world and then realize later it’s not what they were led to believe. The debt definitely made the transition from employee to self-employed a lot harder than it had to be. I only hope I’m successful in showing them all the options they have besides a traditional 4 year college which can lead to a massive debt trap for young adults.

    Reply
    • Gail Gardner says

      October 27, 2013 at 1:49 am

      Hi Lynn,

      I sincerely hope they listen to you. Except for corporate jobs, degrees are far from essential. And even then they don’t always use their own guidelines. IBM hired me between my Sophomore and Junior years. They wanted someone immediately – not after I went to college two more years.

      College to me is a really slow way to learn something. They spoon-feed you over an entire semester what can often be learned in a few weeks or even days. If I wanted to get a particular type of job I would find the very best and talk them into letting me intern with them. Learning by doing is superior to reading books and attending classes.

      Reply
  27. Charles Terrence Harper says

    October 24, 2013 at 9:40 pm

    This is very interesting. I’d like to explore this article and get back to you. One of the things we’re talking about these days at Harper Academy is apprenticeships. We’re going to need them to get our country’s young people back to work.

    Reply
  28. Gobin says

    October 23, 2013 at 11:46 am

    Tech Schools are very helpful to educate the students for the diplomas whereas Universities are educating the students for degrees. Tech Schools offer short courses and these are very helpful for those students that can’t afford high cost for education.

    Reply
  29. Jessica Parker says

    October 23, 2013 at 9:09 am

    Great post Gail:)
    I do agree that Tech schools are much better than colleges.
    In a 100, only 2 or 3 may opt tech schools but its damn sure that those 2 or 3 would become masters in their field of interest.

    Reply
  30. mathewdavid says

    October 23, 2013 at 6:01 am

    Thank you for sharing the ideas that we need education in a better ways to create the main aim to finalize the great carrier in the beat possible ways to guide the future in a proper ways.

    Reply
  31. saim says

    October 23, 2013 at 10:08 am

    Tech schools provide you benefits i must agreed with that as compare to schools and collages.

    Reply
  32. Sebastian says

    October 23, 2013 at 4:59 am

    I’m a senior in a university now and I agree with you completely. College is for those who want to desperately compete to find a job working for the man.

    Reply

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