Philadelphia Tribune - Index

Philadelphia Tribune - Spring 2009 Education Guide - Index

Page 8
Post-secondary education
has been growing exponentially
in the United States
over the past decade, but employers
know that on-the-job
training is still critical to employees’
success. What if you
could combine the two?
This is the major premise
behind two powerful new
models for secondary and
higher education: career-oriented
colleges and career
academies in high school.
Advocates of both movements
see career-oriented education
as the wave of the future
— a way to save both students
and employers time
and money.
Career-oriented college is
one model of higher education
growing rapidly in response
to changing demands
in the labor market. The
U.S. Bureau of Statistics estimates
that 90 percent of
the fastest-growing jobs in
the country over the next
decade will require some
form of post-secondary education,
creating a huge demand
for higher education.
Philadelphia Tribune Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Career-ed yields
powerful results
With a national focus on ensuring
all students master
21st century skills, many
higher education institutions
are focusing more on
hands-on work experiences,
internships and real-world
problem solving.
For many students looking
to enter the job market
quickly, the benefits of a career-oriented
education outweigh
the typical community
college model. “We design our
programs to respond to the
needs of the labor market,”
says Chris Tilley, regional
vice president of Everest University
in Florida. “This
means we target our programs
to the fastest-growing
jobs and constantly review
and improve them to make
sure that our students receive
high-quality training in
their fields.”
Many career-oriented higher
education institutions
have also begun to focus on
helping students get the
skills they need in the most
efficient way possible, by offering
fast-track programs,
night classes and online
courses. “We know our students’
lives are busy. The
vast majority of our students
are juggling families and fulltime
jobs. That’s why we offer
flexible programs to fit their
lives,” says Bruce Jones,
president of Everest University
in Orange Park, Fla.
Some career-oriented higher
education institutions also
offer mentoring or job placement
services.
Some policymakers are
looking even earlier than college
and creating career
academies at the high school
level. Career academies are
high schools that combine
regular academic content
with career-specific studies,
mentoring, internships and
hands-on training. Despite
their recent rise to fame, career
academies are not new
to the educational arena —
they are almost 40 years old,
with the first two academies
beginning in Philadelphia in
1969. Since then, they have
spread throughout the country.
The premise of career
academies is quite simple.
Most career academies are
designed for the last three
years of high school, and
each is built around a certain
career theme, such as health
and medicine, business and
finance, architecture and
construction, education and
child development, engineering
and information technology.
In their coursework, students
combine both core academic
content as well as career-specific
information.
The academies also offer a
number of enhancement activities
such as excursions,
speakers, paid and unpaid
internships and job shadowing.
Many career academies
also support students’ development
of career skills such
as resume writing, interviewing
or mentoring.
Recent research shows
that these career academies
pay off financially. A recent
longitudinal study traced
career academy graduates
over the past decade, and
found that those who graduate
make more money
eight years after graduation
than do their peers who did
not graduate. The difference?
Approximately $2,088
more a year. That’s about
the pay increase students
received after attending
community college for one
or two years.
The report also found that
career academies do not affect
college attendance rates.
Advocates argue that career
academies do not replace college,
but do make graduates
more competitive in the
workforce by giving them addition
experience and exposure.
Is more career-oriented education
the wave of the future?
Some say so. “We believe
in the power of handson
education. We think it’s
important to practice what
you’re learning. That’s why
we incorporate hands-on
training into all our degree
programs at Everest. We
know our students learn better
by doing the work themselves
than they would just
sitting in a classroom,” says
Tilley. — Courtesy of ARAcontent