False Dichotomy of Trade School vs College

@Maniac Craniac mentioned the false dichotomy of trade school vs college. I'll add that, outside of union, cooperative, and military training programs, trade schools are usually colleges that accept student loans and grants. The media and general public seem to have a hard time understanding this. Additionally, cooperative programs operated by employers often work in concert with local, 2-year colleges. In other words, the trainees are completing an undergraduate certificate or associate's degree through the trade program because the local college is providing the curriculum. Even in the military, you might earn an associate's degree while completing a trade program.

When you're not receiving paid training via a union, cooperative, military, etc., trade programs cost because...they're college programs. The average trade program costs $33k. The average debt for trade school is $10k. That's cheaper than the average debt of $36k for a 4-year degree, but it's still debt.

https://moneywise.com/loans/student-loans/why-trade-school-might-be-a-better-choice-than-college

Getting into a union or cooperative program can be competitive due to limited seating, and you might be required to have a competitive score on a written exam. One thing I haven't seen addressed in the media is that those in the demographics that typically struggle in remedial courses at community colleges are the same people who struggle to be accepted to a paid trade program. So, they often end up in for-profit trade schools that have low graduation rates just like community colleges.

 

A number of union programs also have agreements with colleges to award college credits for training. The apprenticeship program through, I think it was the Carpenter's union, sets you up with nearly the entire credit load to walk away with an associates in Construction Technology. The leap from there to a B.S. in Construction Management or even just general Business Administration is not so far of a leap.

 

As a consultant, I had a client offering a very comprehensive 4-tier project management curriculum. I suggested one day that we go after ACE credit recommendations for the 11-course program as well as recognition as a PMI REP. I shepherded both efforts and we were successful. All 11 of his courses got ACE recommendations (10 at the upper division level), and PMI recognized them as a registered education provider.

From that project, I got hundreds of billable hours for my employer, and a TS/SCI clearance from my client, both very nice outcomes in Washington, DC.

 

Agree wholeheartedly with all of this!