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December 29, 2010 12:50 PM
The Return of Voc-Tech?
Apparently, at least in a few places in America, vocational education kind of works. Or at least Americans are drawn toward vocational schools. According to a piece by Rob Reuteman at CNBC:
“I didn’t want to take academic classes that wouldn’t get me a job in the long run,” says Nick Guerin, 21, who is studying to be a food service manager in the vocational division of Johnson & Wales University’s Denver campus. ‘“I enjoy that this curriculum is career-oriented,” adds Guerin. “I was always interested in the food industry, and this will give me the background and internships I need to become a restaurant manager or executive chef.”
Call them vocational schools, trade schools or technical schools—it doesn’t much matter. Once considered the poor stepsister to traditional four-year, liberal arts institutions of higher education and a refuge for second-tier students, they’re now at the forefront of preparing students for a 21st century workforce.
Well technically they’re still considered the poor stepsister to traditional four-year colleges. But at least in this economy, sometimes vocational school looks more practical. At least it is if students don’t assume debt to go there.
Currently, for a variety of reasons, a lot of America’s vocational postsecondary institutions are for-profit schools. They’re the expensive ones. The cheap schools, the community colleges, are not so great at vocational education. Maybe it’s time to correct that problem.
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Marktropolis on December 30, 2010 10:00 AM:
I think nugget that Reuteman ignores is that much of the growth in the for-profit schools has to do with their predatory recruitment practices. Which are well documented elsewhere. And his use of Vedder in the piece is somewhat telling, given that Vedder is a member of the Charles Murray school of thought that only those who "deserve" traditional post-sec education should get it (and by deserve, they mean those who are smart enough to do the work, and wealthy enough to afford the cost). All those poor brown and black children should just pull themselves up by their bootstraps a la Booker T. Washington.
rob reuteman on March 07, 2011 12:05 PM:
I'm sorry to have just noticed this thread. I should say that cnbc.com did not want me to dwell on for-profit voc schools, which I thus mentioned only in passing. Regarding my use of Prof. Vedder as a source here: he is a past member of Bush's Commission of the Future of Higher Education and compiles the ranking of America’s Best Colleges for Forbes magazine. He is eminent in his field, and my selection of him should not be viewed through any conspiratory lense.