What is the difference between vocational and trade school

When people think of the college experience, they conjure up thoughts of kids on a college campus, going to class during the day, and enjoying dorm parties, football games, and other activities on the evenings and weekends. We also think of students studying to become doctors, lawyers, accountants, and teachers. These programs all have the same things in common: they require at least four years of education and, for the most part, the classroom setting involves the instructor lecturing, the students taking notes, and turning in homework assignments, papers, and exams to get a passing grade.

At the end of earning a bachelor's degree from a four-year university or however long it takes for a student to complete all the required classes students graduate. Some enter the workforce and begin their careers, others continue their education by going to graduate school, law school, or medical school.

Many students are interested in taking this path, and they go on to have wonderful, fulfilling careers. For those students, there are other options and careers for which they could be better suited. Prospective students and high school graduates who aren't interested in spending all that time at a four-year university may instead choose to attend a technical college, trade school, or another type of education that provides vocational training and practical job training.

Vocational trainng programs prepare students and graduates for employment within a specific career field or job, such as technology or business. The academic courses in these job training programs are taught by industry experts within various fields of study and teach special skills with a focus on knowledge that can create future career success by giving you quick access to introductory level jobs. Some students want to learn a trade or skill and get on with their lives.

Others might not be able to afford four years of school but can afford one or two years of higher education. For these students, a vocational or technical school is a good option as it can provide practical, technical training programs and a vocational degree when you complete your vocational courses.

These schools usually offer majors and programs that are more blue-collar than accountants and lawyers, but they can still pay well. Trade schools also often have lower admission and education requirements. The curriculum has a focus primarily on the major itself and is generally much more hands-on and less academic as students learn skills meant for a specific career or occupational field. Schools like CET do make use of public programs like Federal Student Aid , allowing people to receive job training to change their careers without large financial barriers.

Ultimately, none of the generalizations above are true of all post-secondary academic institutions. Tech schools may offer plenty of trade programs, and vice versa.

How these concepts are grouped shows that the terms can be and are often used interchangeably. Meanwhile, tuitions have increased significantly while the price of wages has remained fairly flat in most fields when accounting for inflation.

These circumstances have pushed people to want to graduate quicker and with a degree that will get them a job, causing vo-tech school enrollment to rise. They can attend flexible programs built around their busy lives with small class sizes, hands on instruction, and programs tailored to their ideal career path. Trade School vs. Source: — Matthew B. Trade schools also offer a shorter timeline to a real paycheck than most educational paths.

Bachelor's degrees take four years or more to earn — a long time to wait if making a decent wage is your primary goal. By contrast, many vocational certificates can be earned in two years, while others take a year or less. The stability of the skilled trades is another benefit. With a vocation, you can respond to a real and constant need.

The results-driven, hands-on work of these positions also contrasts sharply with many white-collar jobs that many consider increasingly meaningless , or lacking purpose. Studies show that general happiness is influenced more dramatically by satisfaction with one's work life than income. The constant demand for trade skills keeps wages high, but the greatest value of learning a trade might be embarking on an enriching career.

Trade schools or vocational schools offer education at the secondary or postsecondary level. Trade schools prepare students for specific careers that involve manual, mechanical, or technical skill, such as carpentry, welding, construction, and masonry.

Many of the skills taught in trade schools are also taught through apprenticeships and in community colleges. While community colleges are primarily two-year, public institutions that grant associate degrees, trade schools offer programs of varied length, from several months to a couple years.

They can be public, private, and for-profit or nonprofit. The cost of tuition for trade schools vary by school and program. For context, that is roughly equivalent to the price of a single year's tuition at a four-year college. Trade school students are equally eligible for federal financial aid as college students, providing their chosen program runs longer than 15 weeks. For programs shorter than 15 weeks, federal loans are still available.

Deciding between trade school and college ultimately comes down to figuring out what you want to do. Each pathway has its own merits, and chances are you'll encounter many different career opportunities as you gain experience. For many professions, the college track is more or less mandatory. For example, a bachelor's degree is a prerequisite for the majority of white-collar jobs. The holistic education offered by a traditional four-year degree still has real upsides on the job market, but there are significant costs as well.

As the number of these occupational preparation programs increases, differences between the two types of education are mentioned less often.

However, programs that focus on skills-based education are viewed by many as a fallback plan for those who fail academically. As such, vocational education tends to have a poorer reputation for academic challenge and legitimacy than technical education, with more visible academic components. However, both are receiving boosts to their reputations as the need for highly trained workers continues to climb.

The hybrid field of career and technical education is truly experiencing a renaissance right now.