A certificate in a high-demand occupation such as welding, machine tools, information systems or surgical technology pays off for young people, according to Emily Hanford at American Radio Works.
Forty-one percent of workers with certificates earn more than same-age workers with an associate’s degree, according to a Georgetown study, and 27 percent earn more than four-year college graduates.
It’s faster to earn a certificate and — for those who choose a community college — a lot cheaper than pursuing an academic degree.
Tennessee’s Technology Centers offer structured job training that leads to a certificate. Students pick the occupation. They’re told what courses to take. There’s no general education and no electives. “We do not act like Burger King here,” says Carol Puryear, who directs the Murfreesboro Tech Center. Students do not get to “have it their way.”
. . . there are no remedial classes, yet all students get tutoring in math and reading skills and have to demonstrate they’ve mastered the knowledge needed for their particular occupation. Students go to a computer lab once a week and work their way through a program, with an instructor to help when they need it. Students work at their own pace – not only when it comes to math and reading skills, but in other courses too.
“Everyone’s on an individualized training program,” says Puryear. “So if you come in and you excel in brakes in automotive, you will move through that section faster. And then when you get to the electronics, you may have to slow down a little bit.”
About 70 percent of the students earn a certificate, usually within 18 months, and more than three quarters find jobs in their field. That compares to an 11 percent graduation rate at Tennessee’s community colleges.
Miles Jones is a student in the industrial electrical maintenance program at the Tennessee Technology Center at Murfreesboro. (Photo: Doug Strickland)
That’s real dropout prevention, writes Daniel Luzer on Washington Monthly‘s College Guide.
