College isn’t the right choice for everyone. For starters, the high price tag can make a traditional four-year college education prohibitively expensive for many families. But also, college simply isn’t the only pathway to a rewarding career. Not only are there plenty of well-paying jobs that don’t require a four-year degree, alternatives to the four-year degree are growing fast.
Personal finance counselor and author Eric Tyson says for many families, there are alternatives to consider.
“It pays to investigate the alternatives and consider all of your child’s options before making an informed choice,” says Tyson, author of “Paying for College for Dummies®.” “You could potentially save lots of money and find a great fit that’s better for your child.”
Some of the programs available today have been around for generations while others are new and emerging.
The most popular last-mile programs are “boot camps” that focus mostly on coding—a skill in demand like never before. Coding boot camps are full-time endeavors. Classes are small, and most of the time spent is actually working in teams on projects. In a survey done by job search engine website Indeed, 80 percent of technology hiring managers reported hiring coding boot camp graduates, and an astounding 99.8 percent of those said they’d hire more. While boot camps/last-mile programs cost an average of around $12,000, it’s still a bargain compared with the cost of traditional colleges.
College minimum viable product (MVP) programs combine the technical skill training and placement of traditional last-mile programs with sufficient cognitive and non-cognitive skill development that students get from a good college. Graduates of these programs pay through income-share arrangements (ISAs) in which they repay money owed to the program by paying a small portion of their employment income for a short period of time.
Once relegated to industrial trades such as electricians, plumbers, carpenters, and iron and steel workers, apprenticeships are now gaining momentum in industries like advanced manufacturing, healthcare, pharmacy, and IT.
“In the financial services industry, Wells Fargo has an apprenticeship program for numerous positions, as does JPMorgan,” says Tyson. “There are also pharmacy technician apprenticeships at places like CVS Health in partnership with local community colleges. Accenture and Amazon are also offering some apprenticeships for technology jobs such as cloud support associates and data center technicians. Techtonic, based in Boulder, Colo., is a software development company that also does a registered apprenticeship program. By week six of their apprenticeship, aspiring software developers shadow experienced software developers.”
Staffing firms like Manpower, Allegis, Adecco, Randstad, and Kelly Services offer last-mile training to workers and staff them out to clients. Revature, an IT staffing company, hires experienced software developers.
Also known as career and technical education (CTE), vocational and trade schools provide gateways to a wide range of jobs. They typically exist in several different entities, including community colleges, high schools, and other area CTE centers, and are constantly evolving to meet the changing economic environment and jobs that exist today.
Here is just a sampling of industries vocational and trade schools provide training for:
— Automotive industry: Repair technician, body and paint technician, collision repair and refinishing, diesel mechanic
— Culinary arts: Prep cook, sous chef, pastry chef, line cook
— Emergency services: Firefighters, paramedics, police officers, CPR and first-aid instructors
— Healthcare: Nursing aides, certified nursing assistants, licensed practical nurses, vocational nurses, registered nurses, medical technicians, surgical prep technicians, dental hygienists, dental assistants, phlebotomy, sonography, radiology, pharmacy technician, mammography, laboratory technician, veterinary assisting, veterinary technician
— Other skilled vocational jobs: Welding, electrician, plumbing, web designer, carpentry, construction management, pipe-fitting, machining, computer-aided drafting, network administration, civil engineering technician, paralegal, court reporter
A number of four-year colleges offer so-called cooperative programs. The idea behind these is that during a portion of the student’s college experience, the student works part-time or full-time at an employer. This work is done during what would normally be the academic part of the year, counts toward school credits, and is paid.
“Traditional colleges and universities are not the only pathways to success,” concludes Tyson. “Keep an open mind about the alternatives available to your child, because they too can lead to career satBlack news, Blacks in LA, Black Los Angeles, Black events in LA, LA Black news, African American, African American news, LA African American, Crenshaw, South LA, Baldwin Hills.
