Are you looking into colleges and want to learn more about vocational schools? Are you asking yourself, “Why choose a vocational school?”
First let’s look into what a vocational school is, and then we will explain why you should choose a vocational school.
What Is a Vocational School?
A vocational school, often called a technical or trade school, is a postsecondary institution focused on preparing you for a trade in the most concise way possible. Unlike a four-year college with general education requirements, vocational schools teach you the exact skills needed to start working right away.
Why Choose a Vocational School?
There are many different reasons to choose a vocational school. Some of the benefits may include a sooner start, smaller class sizes, a flexible schedule, industry experienced instructors, financial aid for those who qualify, hands-on experience, and career services. A vocational school with all these benefits makes choosing that much easier.
Benefit 1—A Quick Start
Many vocational school programs allow you to attend full-time and graduate in under a year. Some programs can be completed in just a few months. Since vocational schools focus only on what you need to start working in an entry-level position, they teach you exactly what you need to know to hit the ground running.
Benefit 2—Small Class Sizes
Another reason to choose a vocational school is smaller class sizes. Many four-year colleges hold classes in auditoriums with hundreds of students.
Vocational schools work in smaller classrooms and focus on individual attention from experienced instructors. This allows you to ask all the questions you need to. The instructor doesn’t have to stop every time someone falls behind.
These small classes help you create strong bonds with instructors and classmates. These bonds are the start of networking opportunities that you will enjoy as a graduate of a vocational school.
Benefit 3—Flexible Schedules
Many of us have daily responsibilities that don’t allow us to attend school during the day. Whether taking care of a family member or working a job to pay the bills while you learn, some of us need a flexible school schedule to get everything done throughout the week.
Some vocational schools offer evening classes and hybrid courses. A hybrid course splits time with online lectures and in-person lab work. If you are a medical assistant student, you can participate in live lectures online, but you will still need hands-on experience in real world situations to put the online knowledge into action.
Benefit 4—Industry Experienced Instructors
Many vocational schools choose to hire industry experienced instructors because they have the experience and knowledge of the vocation they are teaching. These instructors know what you will need to learn to prepare you for an entry-level position in programs like allied health care, web design, and computer technology. The instructors will also have ties to the community and help you learn about job openings, helping you network after graduation.
Benefit 5—Financial Aid
Choosing a vocational school that is fully accredited can allow you to access federal financial aid. For those who qualify, students can fill out a FAFSA form and apply for federal financial aid like grants, scholarships, and subsidized loans.
Some of the financial aid instruments include the Federal Pell Grant, Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grant (FSEOG), Direct Loan Program, Parent Loan to Undergraduate Students (PLUS Loan), and veteran benefits.
Benefit 6—Hands-On Experience
It is important to choose a vocational school that offers hands-on experience whether in the lab or at a place of employment. In addition to lab work, vocational school programs may offer an externship. These externships allow you to work in a real setting. You will attempt job tasks under the supervision of an instructor or company employee.
Having hands-on experience is important for your résumé when you work toward an entry-level position in your trade. Having this experience will give you a leg up on your competition.
Benefit 7—Career Services
Choosing a vocational school means you will have access to career services to help you obtain your first job in your given vocation. Vocational schools help you with résumé writing, mock interviews, certification and licensing exams, networking, career fairs, and alumni support.
All of these services will help you prepare for an interview and get you one step closer to an entry-level job. Most vocational schools will also follow you throughout your career, offering alumni services to you when needed.
Popular Vocational School Programs
Some vocational schools focus on one trade like cosmetology, and others teach a specific genre like allied health care or creative arts. Other vocational schools offer a wide variety of programs to choose from.
Allied Health Care
Allied health is a popular vocation with job growth potential. Overall predictions from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics have health care occupations growing 15 percent in the next decade. This includes a wide variety of occupations including medical assisting, nursing, and many other medical professions.
Medical Assisting Medical assisting programs prepare you in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains required for professional practice as a medical assistant.
As a critical link between the patient and the doctor, you serve in many capacities. You learn to perform venipuncture (draw blood), prepare patients for examinations, assist with exams and special procedures, perform electrocardiography (EKGs), and carry out various laboratory tests.
Medical Billing and Coding This training covers billing and coding, accounts receivable, insurance billing, patient statements, encounter forms, appointment scheduling, procedure history, payment posting, diagnostic history, and referring doctor information.
You gain knowledge of complex medical terms and acquire an understanding of body systems. You also develop an understanding of the structure, format, and conventions used in ICD-10 (International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems), CPT (Current Procedural Terminology), and HCPCS (Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System).
Medical Office Administration This program prepares you with the skills and training necessary to provide excellent administrative support while working and playing a key role in running an efficient, productive medical office.
Through a blend of classroom instruction and practical hands-on training, you receive an in-depth education in computer data entry of patient information, patient files, filing systems and records, insurance claim filing, and billing and coding.
You learn anatomy and physiology, health care administration, EMR (electronic medical records), insurance theory, and insurance claims management.
Practical Nursing By choosing this program, you learn theory, gain hands-on laboratory skills, and participate in off-site clinical rotations. These rotations include experience at long-term care and rehabilitation facilities, hospitals, and childbearing and pediatric outpatient settings.
Upon successful completion of the NCLEX-PN, the National Council Licensure Examination, which is a nationwide examination for the licensing of nurses in the United States, you will work under the direction of a registered nurse or licensed physician in a variety of health care settings.
Radiologic Technology An X-ray tech program provides you with the knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to function as a radiologic technologist. As a radiologic technologist, you will use radiation to produce images of various parts of the body to aid in the detection of injury or disease.
The program introduces you to the fundamentals of radiologic technology, anatomy and physiology, medical terminology, and radiographic procedures and includes an immediate introduction to the clinical arena that all set the foundation for the program. Patient care, radiation protection, image analysis, and pathology are incorporated into the overall educational experience.
Diagnostic Medical Sonography This program prepares you in the cognitive (knowledge), psychomotor (skills), and affective (behavior) learning domains for employment in the medical community. A diagnostic medical sonography program is comprised of extensive coursework in the areas of abdominal sonography, OB/GYN sonography, sonography of superficial structures (e.g., thyroid, breast, testes), vascular sonography, pediatric sonography, and cardiac sonography (echocardiography).
Computer Technology There are many different computer technology programs. Two of the most common programs are computer technician networking and web application design and development.
In a computer technician networking program, you learn a number of service and repair techniques to fix hardware and software problems, as well as build, support, upgrade, and secure computers on a SOHO (small office/home office) network in the classroom.
This training program introduces you to emerging technologies such as unified communications; mobile, cloud, and virtualization technologies; and administration of a domain through a Windows server using Active Directory. The basic security component discusses network security, compliance and operation security, and threats and vulnerabilities.
In a web application design and development program, hands-on school instruction is given in full-stack web development, providing you the skills needed to become a junior developer or website administrator with no prior coding experience needed.
This program covers both front-end and back-end web development topics, starting with client-side programming languages such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript, then gradually advancing to object-oriented programming, Enterprise Java, and database design.
The program’s curriculum culminates with computer coding assignments using today’s most popular web development technologies, such as Python and PHP, encompassing e-commerce, content management, service-oriented architecture, and security.
Final Thoughts
Choosing a school with a myriad of available options can be hard. If you want a quicker start, smaller class sizes, a flexible schedule, and opportunities in allied health or computers, then choosing a vocational school may be the right path for you. When you choose a vocational school, you will be happy you did.
Now that you know why you should choose a vocational school, do you want to learn more? Our professional, career focused technical school programs, developed with industry input and adapted to the 21st century workplace, will provide vocational school students on Long Island with the technical skills and abilities they need in the health care, business, and technical professions. See the Top 10 Reasons to Choose Hunter Business School.
Contact us today to find out more about how to become a vocational school graduate on Long Island.