Analysis of Career Completion Programs
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Analysis of Career Completion Programs
Introduction
Certificate programs have become instrumental in the contemporary market. The rising demand for the applications has led to the establishment of numerous technical institutions to enhance learning. Significantly, the professional institutions have been providing several certificate programs such as welding, electrical technology, cosmetology, and LPN, among others. According to research conducted on various markets, the increased demand for the certificate programs can be accredited to the practical skills they offer to prepare them for employment. The aspect has seen the technical schools increasing their rates of enrolments for many years. However, not all of the students that enroll in the programs often complete their courses. This paper looks after certificate career programs in the technical schools and evaluates the rates of retention in these institutions.
Career Certificate completion
The completion of the career certificate programs in the technical institutions has been increasing significantly over the years. According to research conducted in the United States between 1998 and 2014, the number of students who graduated from the certificate programs grew tremendously from 566,000 to 1.06 million (Watson, 2016). The growth by over 82% signifies the increased rate students enroll in for the certificate courses in the United States. The increased enrollment for the courses can be pegged down to the changed societal perception of technical institutions. Traditionally, the technical institutions were perceived as places for students that failed in their high school education. However, the changing nature of the work environment, where the employment opportunities require the employees to have practical skills, has forced the members of the society to develop a different perception for the institutions. Significantly, the certificate programs offered by the technical institutions have been in the sub-baccalaureate categories, which spread over learning periods of two years and below.
Data on Completion Rates
The educational system in the United States applies the Classification Instruction Instructional Program (CIP) to provide reports on the completion and retention rates of educational programs. Research conducted in the United States indicates that healthcare-related programs such as the Licensed Practical Nurse (LPN), have recorded the highest completion rates of about 35.6% (Olson, 2016). The personal and culinary services took the second position at 13.8%. The programs involve instructions to prepare individuals for the provision of professional services in cosmetology, funeral services, food preparation, and catering services. The two categories made a total of close to 50% of the certificate programs offered at the technical institutions. According to Olson, Cosmetology, vehicle maintenance, and medical administrative services have the highest completion rates.
The technical institutions have recorded a completion rate of about 70% in recent years. The analysis was based on the 150% normal time and provided reliable data on the students that graduated from the various professional courses (Xu & Ran, 2015). The rates of completion of the various courses have been dependent upon the specific programs undertaken by the students. For instance, welding and technology in the United States recorded a higher graduation rate than the other courses in 2014 (Castellano & Stone, 2017). The second position was taken by Cosmetology with a 60% rate, while electrical technology clinched the third position at 57%. Several factors have greatly contributed to the variations in the completion rates of the certificate programs. For instance, some students have encountered academic and financial difficulties, which have prevented them from effectively accomplishing their programs.
On the other hand, the four-digit CIP codes have indicated that cosmetology and other grooming arts accounted for 11% of the graduation certificates offered by the technical institutions. Between the years 2013 and 2014, more than 120,000 students graduated with a cosmetology certificate (Gambin & Hogart, 2016). In most technical institutions, welding recorded a 3.6% contribution to the number of students who graduated.
Other significant certificate programs that have recorded commendable completion rates include clinical assistance and automobile technicians. While clinical assistance recorded a 7% graduation rate, automobile technicians had a 3% completion rate. According to the statistical data generated, the courses in cosmetology, personal and culinary services, and health-related programs were common among the females. On the other hand, males have proven to develop a strong preference for science-related courses such as welding and electrical technology.
Career Certificate Retention Rates
With the changing market, the career certificate courses have been instrumental in the employment of the graduates from the technical institutions. Consequently, the retention rates in the technical institutions have remained exceedingly high since 1998. The retention rates have been maintained at an average of 80%, an aspect that has seen many graduates getting into the employment scene (Yu, 2015). Cosmetology and the other related courses recorded the highest percentage of retention at a rate of 88%. The course was closely followed by engineering-related certificates such as welding and electrical technology at a rate of 80%. Significantly, the increased employability of the career certificate courses has been responsible for the increased rates of retention in the technical institutions.
Several factors have been established as the critical determinants of the retention rates among the technical institutions. The failure of other students to graduate from the career certificate courses has been pegged down on the high rates of attrition among the institutions (Sithole & Kibirige, 2017). Research indicates that engineering-related courses such as welding, electrical engineering, and others have had a record of high attrition rates. Other courses with high attrition rates include sciences, arts, and other health-related programs (Kuley, Maw, & Fonstad, 2015). Significantly, the high rates of attritions in the science-related courses emanates from the perceived difficulty in the studies. Most of the science-related courses usually migrate in large numbers to other art-related courses, while others drop out of the technical institutions completely. On the other hand, few students have been migrated from the arts-related courses to the science-related courses.
The high attrition rates have also been associated with the students that take part-time courses. In the engineering-related courses, close to 55% of the students who enroll in the courses often fail to complete the courses or transfer to other courses in the long run. The attrition rates in engineering-related courses are often caused by the commitments required in the courses’ accomplishment. The tough commitments required often make it difficult for the students to undertake the studies on a part-time basis (Vogel & Human-Vogel, 2016). Another significant factor determining the retention rate and attrition is the gender of the students that enroll for the courses. Research indicates that female students tend to complete their courses as opposed to their male counterparts. The higher rate of retention among females is often attributed to their choice of courses. A very small percentage of the females often go for the engineering courses, as opposed to the males (Kuley, Maw, & Fonstad, 2015). Most of the females have been enrolling for the cosmetology and health-related courses at the technical institutions. Other female students have been preferring the beauty-related courses at the expense of the science-related programs.
Furthermore, most students who have been dropping out of welding and electrical technology have often cited a lack of guidance in career choices as a principal reason for their change of mind. According to the students, most of them relied on their grades to choose their certificate programs with little regard to their career aspirations. Such students have always found themselves dropping out to pursue other courses.
Another factor that has significantly affected the completion and retention rates in the technical institutions include financial difficulties. A considerable number of the technical students have stated that they have been unable to complete their certificate programs, citing their inability to finance them as the principal cause of causation (Watson, 2016). In recent years, the tuition fees for the certificate courses in technical schools have skyrocketed due to their increased demand in the market (Mckinney & Lunar, 2019). Compared to the early 2000s, tuition fees for engineering-related programs such as electrical technology have tripled, driving most students and households into debts (Watson, 2016). Consequently, a bigpercentage of the students enrolling for the courses fail to graduate because of huge fee balances. Recently, there have been discussions to involve various legislative bodies to tame the rising tuition fees in technical schools and higher education institutions. In response to the high fees, some technical schools have sought help to help the needy students complete their studies.
A career in a Year
The certificate programs usually increase graduates’ chances of getting employment as soon as they complete their short courses. The access to careers, however, depends on the design of the programs and how they are taught and managed to enhance high-quality education among the students. The certificate programs have often helped students get fast access to high paying jobs in the markets (Cellini & Turner, 2019). Significantly, the technical institutions have been providing various courses that have enabled the graduates to further their skills annually. A higher percentage of the students have often stuck to their careers upon their graduations.
The United States has encountered a high rate of hackers and a great threat to cybersecurity. As such, the country has been in a great need for professionals in systems security (Zhao & Li, 2020). With lucrative salaries of more than $130,000, the career in the security of the system has always attracted the students pursuing engineering certificate courses. Upon employment, the graduates have often been instrumental in protecting their employers’ data and infrastructure in organizations.
Another employment sector that has recorded a high number of certificate graduates is the healthcare-related field. The certificate graduates have been employed as Licensed Practical Nurses (LPN), emergency medical technicians, and caregivers among the various medical institutions and homes (Lu & Seidmann, 2018). Owing to the practical skills gained throughout their Training, the students have been instrumental in improving the medical attention offered by the medical institutions.
Research indicates that the graduates from the technical institutions often have a percentage of job retention at their workplaces. The aspect has seen the young professionals maintaining their jobs throughout the year, without considering quitting. Several factors have been accredited to the percentage of job retentions in a year by the graduates from the technical institutions. First, the high-quality Training offered at the institutions has always enabled the graduates to provide commendable services in the market. The aspect has made the graduates enjoy job satisfaction, hence commitments to their work. Another significant contributor to the maintenance of a particular job in a year has been the support of the employees at their workplaces. For instance, most managements at the workplace have often given their employees from the technical institutions the opportunities to advance their employment skills. The aspects have been enhanced through further pieces of Training at workshops and seminars (Samwel, 2018). As a result, the employees from the technical institutions have often developed a sense of esprit de corps and have been recording low employee turnovers at their workplaces.
Industry Certification
The technical education programs often take periods of two years and below to be accomplished. The completion periods depend on the type of course pursued by the students and the requisite skills to be attained. Upon the completion of the community college careers and technical education, the graduates are often given an academic award, mostly a certificate or diploma. However, for most of the certificate courses offered in the technical institutions, the graduates are often required to earn third-party certifications or licenses. At times, third-party certifications and licenses are usually part of the community colleges (MacCaffery & Maxwell, 2020). Depending on the industry being ventured into, the certifications may, at times, be sought after by the graduates on their own upon the completion of their career certificate courses. The second set of students attain their certifications through aligned works before being considered to be credential-ready.
For decades, middle-skill jobs have made the highest percentage of the labor market in the United States. In 2012, for instance, close to 54% of the labor market required middle-skills Training. However, the employers were only able to reach 44% of qualified workers to fill the jobs (Career, 2015). One of the techniques applied to overcome the challenges was the Technical Education Act’s adoption to help the citizens get access to the career certificate education and the consequent licenses.
The Corporation for the Skilled Workforce (CSW) defines the industry-recognized credentials as the documents awarded by recognized, responsible, and authorized organizations, which attest that individuals have met the specific learning outcomes required of them. The credentials usually lend credibility to the graduates, permitting them to offer their professional services (Doran & Hengesteg, 2019). The healthcare field has several required credentials for the graduates of the certificate courses. Such credentials include the Certified Professional in Healthcare Information and Management Systems (CPHIMS), Certified Professional in Healthcare Risk Management (CPHRM), and the Certified Medical Manager (CMM), among many others.
The industry certification credentials often have significant advantages to the graduates of technical schools. First, the credentials enhance the upgrading of the students’ knowledge of the industries of their specialization. The aspect ensures that the students are properly equipped with the requisite practical skills to provide high-quality services to their clients. Other crucial advantages of the industry-recognized credentials include the increase in salaries from 3% to 13% and the increase in the opportunities for acquiring international jobs.
Career Advisement
Ordinarily, the attrition rates in technical institutions should be at a bare minimum because the students undertake programs that are relevant in their careers. Therefore, it is expected that the students must have undergone career counseling before joining the technical schools (Yu, 2015). Moreover, the perceptions about particular programs “belonging” to a specific gender have become obsolete in recent years. The expectation is that the completion rates for males and females in courses believed to be of a “particular” gender should be fairly equal. However, the disparity remains as seen in the graduation and retention rates in engineering and cosmetology certificate programs. Another interesting fact is that females in most certificate programs have higher completion rates than males. The situation should be the other way round since the females are traditionally believed to battle many responsibilities, even when studying.
College and Career Readiness Percentage of Students that Need Remediation
A significantly high percentage of students in American high schools have been graduating with a diploma. However, another high percentage of students have been failing to graduate from the institutions with the requisite grades. In 2016 and 2017, most American students who were Hispanic, Black, disabled, or came from families with low incomes graduated from their high schools with diplomas at lower rates than their white counterparts (DePaoli & Bridgeland, 2018). The groups of students posted 80%, 78.35, 67.1%, and 77.8%, respectively. This was in contrast with their white counterparts that scored 88.6% during their graduations.
Out of the students who qualify to go to college, about half qualify for the remediation courses. The remediation courses often focus on basic reading and mathematics, which do not count for degrees. Close to 15% of the graduating high school students in the United States are usually in need of remedial courses (Jimenez & Thompson, 2016). The courses take a maximum of two years in tertiary institutions and are usually offered to students that missed critical subjects and skills during their high school education. Significantly, the short courses enable the students to offer high-quality services in the employment markets in America. Students that are often unprepared do fail to complete their community college degrees. The failure to graduate from the institutions is tied on several factors, critical among them being the low income earned by their families to sustain their Training, and the difficulties of the separate courses they undertake.
Some states, such as Delaware, have come up with measures to overcome the remediation challenge. For instance, the state came up with the Delaware College Success Report (CSR) in 2015, which would help its residents to further their education at the community level by crafting viable measures to be undertaken to ensure the connection between high schools and the remediation facilities. The state uses the CSR to generate and sustain viable discussions on the courses’ rigor and instructional practices in their high schools. Significantly, the measures employed by the state have seen close to 20% of the students that failed in their high schools attaining their remedial courses.
Short-term Training
Short-term courses in the United States often take twelve months and shorter periods. The courses, especially in the certificate field, are offered to the students to increase their skills in specific areas of their professions. Most of the institutions provide both theoretical and more practical skills to the students to enable them to become more proficient in the employment market (Bozick & Turner, 2018). Significantly, the short-term courses are provided in various industries such as the healthcare field, and engineering, among others. The institutions usually provide students with assessments to determine their qualifications for the courses offered (Cullinan & Lopaz, 2018). Such assessments mostly take the form of exams and practical works, depending on the specific institution’s codes of operations. Upon the successful completion of the certificate courses, the institutions provide certificate awards to the graduates as recognition for their expert skills in their fields.
Certificate versus a Four Year Degree
The degrees and certificate programs make the two critical choices for students that want to further their education beyond the high school level. With the choices of specialization offered to the students, they often broaden their skills in their respective areas of studies and consequently provide high-quality services in the labor market. However, there are several differences between the degree and the certificate programs provided by the institutions. First, the certificate programs are usually narrowly focused (Wikle, 2018). The aspect enables the students to improve their actionable skills in the specific industries of their operation. Depending on the study’s subject, the certificate programs usually dive deep into the sophisticated methods of work to enable the graduates to be more efficient at their workplaces. On the other hand, the degree programs are usually wide, covering both the practical and theoretical aspects depending on the course of study. The degree programs enable the students to solve puzzles and analyze situations in the employment market.
Another significant difference between the certificate and degree programs occur in the time differences for the studies. The degree programs take a minimum of four years, depending on the course of study (Xu & Van, 2017). On the other hand, the certificate programs take a maximum of 2 years. While the former may provide online classes, the latter prefers physical classes due to the complexity of practical skills taught to the students.
Conclusion
A significantly high number of certificate programs in technical schools have high completion rates. For instance, more than 80% of the students that enroll for cosmetology graduate at the end of the program. Similarly, in engineering-related programs such as welding technology, more than 60% of the students enrolling in the course graduate. Moreover, certificate programs have high retention rates because of their increased market demand. However, the completion and retention rates of the programs are greatly affected by factors such as financial difficulties and wrong course choices. Several students have been unable to accomplish their programs for lack of adequate money to finance their education. In contrast, others drop out of their initial courses upon realizing that the courses do not favor their career dreams.
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