Career Certificate Program Completion At Technical Schools
Introduction
In recent years, the demand for certificate programs has increased significantly in the market. The increased demand has led to increased development of technical institutions to offer the programs. Some of the standard certificate programs in technical schools include welding, cosmetology, and electrical technology. Research indicates that the increased demand for technical courses is because they offer practical skills that prepare the graduates for employment. Since the introduction of certificate programs, technical schools have seen increased Enrollment over the years. However, the question of how many of the students enroll in the programs complete their courses still remains. The paper looks at certificate career completion in technical schools. It also evaluates the rates of retention in these institutions.
Certificate Career Completion
Over the years, the completion of career certificates in technical schools has grown significantly. Analysis conducted in the U.S between 1998 and 2014 shows that the number of graduates receiving certificates grew from 566,000 to 1.06 million (Watson, 2016). The growth represents an 88.2% percentage increase, indicating an increased uptake of certificate courses. Initially, students believed that certificate programs were designed for students that failed to achieve college entry grades. However, the perception has changed because of the changing nature of the work environment that requires students to possess practical skills in one or more disciplines (Watson, 2016). The increased demand for certificate courses has made technical institutions increase their enrollments, especially in sub-baccalaureate categories (one or two-year courses).
Among the critical factors that have led to the increased shift from the college degrees to the certificate programs include the economic workforce changes and economic power. As the boomers begin to retire and the millennials coming of age, the work standards have been gradually changing. The non-degree programs have equipped the graduates with more diversified hands-on skills that have since been the most prevalent in the market environment. The students who have been endowed with the skills to handle challenges and aspects met in the market environment have been able to steer their organizations to much greater heights. Furthermore, the colleges’ rising traditional tuition fees have contributed significantly in the shift toom the degrees to the certificate programs. The completion rates of the students undertaking the certificate programs has been deprived upon several factors. Most of the students who opt to complete their courses are usually driven by the type of course they undertake, the requisite resources’ availability, and their desire to be much productive in the market environment. Significantly, the number of students that have been able to complete their certificate programs has been increasing. Students undertaking courses in the medical field and those pursuing their passion have often led to completing their courses.
Data on Completion Rates
In the U.S, the established educational system uses the CIP (Classification of Instructional Programs) to report on the completion and retention rates of various educational programs. Analysis conducted in the U.S shows that healthcare-related certificate programs have the highest completion rates of 35.6% (Olson, 2016). The completion of health care related courses can be attributed to several factors. First, the United States federal and state governments have often provided their support to the students undertaking the health care related courses, especially at the certificate level. The support has been offered majorly in terms of finances, which has seen several students striving to accomplish their programs. Furthermore, the high rates of employment for medical students graduating from technical institutions have been high. The aspect has encouraged most of the students to complete their certificate programs, hence increasing the graduation rates for the health care related courses.
Significantly, the personal and culinary services courses come a distant second with 13.8%. These two certificate programs made more than 50% of the total certificates awarded in technical institutions. Specific evaluations indicate that Cosmetology, vehicle maintenance, and medical administrative services have the highest completion rates in vocational education (Olson, 2016).).
Based on the “150% normal time,” technical schools have a graduation rate of about 70% (Xu & Ran, 2015). The completion rate varies depending on the type of certificate programs offered in the institutions. For instance, 2014 statistics indicate welding technology had higher graduation rates than most other technical courses. During the same year, Cosmetology had a completion rate of 60%, while electrical technology had a completion rate of 57% (Xu & Ran, 2015). The variations in graduation rates are attributed to various factors, such as academic difficulties and financial difficulties.
Analysis using the four-digit CIP codes indicates that cosmetology and other associated grooming arts account for about 11.4% of certificates awarded in technical institutions. In 2013-14, Gambin and Hogart (2016) indicate that more than 120000 students graduated with a Cosmetology certificate. Analysis of most technical schools in the U.S showed that Cosmetology had the highest number of certificates awarded among the vocational programs. A significant factor that has made the course to be among the ones with the highest record of graduating students is the technical institutions’ ability to offer Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) in the field.Considering the nature of the course, which makes it not demanding as compared to others, the students have been able to undertake their studies while at the same time dubbling in other income generating activities. The practice has been crucuial in enable students to income-generating their studies. Hence the high completion ratcrucialhermore, the rising employment opportunities in the United States’ beauty field have been cited as a propelling factor for the high completion rates.
Precision production trades (welding) contribute to about 3.6% of the total number of certificates awarded in technical schools in a particular academic year. Analysis using the six-digit CIP codes indicate that about 28000 welding technology certificates are awarded annually (Gambin & Hogarth, 2016). The number is about three times lower than the total certificates awarded for cosmetologists. Other prominent programs in technical institutions include clinical assistances and Automobile technicians. Clinical assistants account for 7% of the certificates awarded annually, while the automotive technicians account for 3% (Carnevale & Hanson, 2013). Personal and culinary services are another vocational program with high completion rates in technical schools (Gambin & Hogarth, 2016). Statistics indicate that Cosmetology, personal and culinary services, and other health-related programs are common among the females, while males prefer science-related programs such as welding and electrical technology. Electrical technologies represent 5% of total certificates awarded annually (Gambin & Hogarth, 2016).
Retention Rates
The retention rates for students in technical schools have remained an all-time high since 1998, with an average retention rate of 80% (Yu, 2015). For example, Cosmetology and other-related certificate courses have retention rates of 88%. Similarly, engineering-related certificate programs such as welding and electrical technology have high retention rates of more than 80%. The increased retention rates in technical institutions are caused by the increased market demand to employ graduates with practical skills (Yu, 2015). In recent years, most of the students have preferred certificate courses because of these courses’ increased employability.
Attrition is one of the critical factors that affect the retention and completion rates in technical institutions. Evidence indicates that engineering-related certificate programs such as electrical and welding technology have higher attrition rates than the sciences, arts, and health-related programs (Kuley, Maw, & Fonstad, 2015). The high attrition rate is associated with the academic difficulty of the engineering programs. Analyses indicate less migration from other courses to engineering certificate programs such as electrical and welding technology. On the contrary, the number of students to move out of these programs to health-related sciences and arts is significantly high (Kuley, Maw, & Fonstad, 2015).
Studies further identify that attrition is more in students that take technical courses on a part-time basis. For instance, in engineering-related certificate programs, about 55% of the students that enroll for the course programs on a part-time basis fail to complete the program or transfer to other programs midway. Kuley, Maw, and Fonstad (2015) indicate that most engineering-related programs require increased student commitment to complete the course. Therefore, it becomes hard for part-time students to handle the programs’ requirements, which forces them to look for manageable alternative programs. Attrition rates also vary based on gender. Evidence suggests that female students are more likely to complete their course programs than male students are (Olson, 2016). The higher completion rates among the females may be due to their choices of course programs. Only about 15% of females undertake engineering-related certificate programs such as electrical technology (Kuley, Maw, & Fonstad, 2015). Most of the female students enroll for cosmetology or health-related certificate programs. These programs have some of the lowest attrition rates in technical institutions. Apart from the academic commitment required in these programs, interest, and passion contribute to higher completion rates among female students in technical schools.
In most technical institutions, females are more likely to choose beauty-related certificate programs (Yu, 2015). Most of these students avoid engineering-related programs because they are not good in math or the sciences. Moreover, most of the students dropping out of electrical and welding technology cite a lack of guidance in career choices as the primary reason for their attrition (Stratton et al., 2014). Evidence suggests that students who use their grades to choose certificate programs without considering their career choices end up dropping out. These students end up losing interest along the way. Stratton et al. (2014) identify that the wrong career choice is another significant factor influencing completion rates, especially in engineering-related courses.
Another critical factor that has led to high attrition rates in most of the United States’ technical institutions is the inability of some institutions to hire, retain, and motivate their teachers. As such, the teachers have not been keen to enhance quality engagement times with the students undertaking the certificate programs. Students undertaking relatively tough courses such as engineering-related and have minimal engagement time with their teachers often lag in terms of the cumulative practical skills offered. In most cases, the students opt for changing their courses or dropping them altogether. Furthermore, some institutions create demotivating environments for students. Such environments are characterized by a lack of student-engagement activities, carelessness towards student attendance, where the teachers do not care whether some students attend the practical skills lessons, and the application of outdated syllabus on the students.
The minority students in the United States have often tended to record high retention rates in the technical institutions. Most of the minority students in the technical institutions are often immigrants from countries such as Spain and Mexico. The Black community also record a relatively high number of students in technical institutions. One of the critical driving factors behind the minorities’ high retention rates is their desire to earn a living, be independent, and better their lives and families. The students usually strive to get to the United States upon their arrival; they realize that one of the crucial ways through which they can better themselves is through the enrollments into the technical institutions. At the institutions, the students have been known to work hard towards achieving their dreams, hence recording the high retention rates.
Other factors that affect completion and retention rates in technical schools include financial difficulties. Most technical schools report that they cannot complete their certificate programs because they cannot afford to finance them (Watson, 2016). In recent years, tuition fees for certificate courses in technical schools have skyrocketed because of their increased market demand. Compared to the early 2000s, tuition fees for engineering-related programs such as electrical technology have tripled, driving most students and households into debt (Watson, 2016). As a result, a massive percentage 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 aid to help the needy students complete their studies (Watson, 2016).
Career Advisement
Ordinarily, the attrition rates in technical institutions should be at a bare minimum because they undertake programs relevant to 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. 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 (Gambin & Hogarth, 2016).
The high attrition rates and the failure of most technical institutions’ failure to accomplish their certificate programs usually emanate from their choice of wrong careers. One method to prevent such aspects is by taking the students through career advisement processes at the time of their admission at the technical institutions. Career advising helps the students determine how their academic and personal interests, abilities, and values may relate to the career field they aspire to venture into. The confusion that often arises among the student’s career choice can be attributed to their immigration and the lack of well-informed family members to give them proper guidance. Therefore, institutions that offer the career advisement enable the students to make appropriate choices regarding the careers that suit them well.
The advisement programs can be enhanced in the first weeks of the students’ admission. The programs can be conducted on a one on one basis or collectively on the students depending on the number of the students seeking guidance and the institutions’ frameworks. However, to ensure success, the institutions will be required to ensure quality time with the new students to allow them to be well-versed with the challenges and advantages that are accompanied with all the career choices of their interests. Such measures will be critical in ensuring that the students make appropriate choices, reducing the attrition rates at a greater percentage.
A career in a Year
The certificate programs usually increase graduates’ chances of getting employment as soon as they complete their short courses. However, access to careers 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 provided 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 system’s security 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. While some of the students have been employed in the law enforcement agencies that deal with cybercrimes, others have been employed in diversified organizations where they have been receiving lucrative salaries. The preference made to the graduates of the American technical institutions can be attributed to the thorough practical skills that have often been taught to the students during their course studies (Rowe & Zegwaard, 2017). Significantly, the graduates have been instrumental in reducing crime rates through computer systems in the United States. The aspect has led to many fresh certificate students getting attracted to the computer-related courses at the technical institutions.
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). The skills offered at the technical institutions have enabled the students to offer high-quality medical services to patients across health facilities in the United States (Rosen & Weaver, 2018). The aspect has attracted thousands of students in the technical institutions to pursue the health care related courses at the technical institutions and further led to the high completion rates on the courses. Owing to the practical skills gained throughout their training, the students have been instrumental in improving medical institutions’ medical attention. Their services have led to the reduction of fatalities in the health care sector in the United States. Consequently, several health care facilities have often considered expanding and employing more graduates from technical institutions, an aspect that increased the chances of many students pursuing the courses.
Research indicates that the graduates from the technical institutions often have a percentage of job retention. 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 technical institutions’ graduates. 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 employees’ support at their workplaces. For instance, most workplace management has often given their employees from the technical institutions the opportunities to advance their employment skills. The aspects have been enhanced through further Training at workshops and seminars (Samwel, 2018). As a result, the technical institutions’ employees have often developed a sense of esprit de corps and have been recording low employee turnovers at their workplaces. The aspect has often been coupled with incorporating the employees in the various critical decision making by the organizations (Fiedler & Fath, 2020). The technical institutions’ employees have been regarded as having critical skills that could enable the organizations to register tremendous improvements in their operations, hence their inclusion in the decision-making processes.
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 completing 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 technical institutions’ certificate courses, 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, employers could only 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 citizens access the career certificate education and the consequent licenses. The licenses are usually overseen by the state agencies to ensure that they are in line with the country’s requisite standards before the individuals can begin to offer professional services to American society. In most career opportunities, the various state governments have placed a requirement for the employees to further their studies after certain periods, to enable them to be effective at their services (Gore, 1993). The move has been effected through the determination of the expiry dates for the licenses after certain periods. Upon their expiry, the license holders have been required to undertake other shorter courses to certify their credibility to continue offering services to the people.
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. In the medical field, the certification has ensured that the graduates are well prepared to provide quality medical services, hence reducing death cases (Horner & Malek, 2020). The aspect has been crucial in times of emergencies and the normal medical operations at the institutions. Other crucial advantages of the industry-recognized credentials include the increase in salaries from 3% to 13% and increased opportunities for acquiring international jobs. Significantly, the employees who have been in a position to receive higher salaries have often had to further their studies and ensure that their credentials are valid. The measure has further been crucial in opening avenues for the employees to get employment both in other states and other countries.
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 (Stevens & Grosz, 2019). 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 to 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 state’s measures 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 their professions. Most of the institutions provide theoretical and practical skills to the students 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. 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 operations codes. Upon completing the certificate courses, the institutions provide certificate awards to the graduates to recognize their expert skills in their fields.
The short term courses have been instrumental in enabling the students to acquire employment faster than the long-term courses. The aspect has been fueled by the changing work environment, which requires more hands-on skills on the part of the employees (Consoli & Vona, 2016). As such, the students who attend the technical institutions across the United States have had a greater chance of specializing in their fields and receiving the highly sought after skills by the numerous organizations. Upon their employment, most of the students have been able to steer their organizations into greater success, hence leading to students’ attraction to pursue the certificate courses at the technical institutions.
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 students’ choices of specialization, 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 work methods 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 study course. 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 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 the students’ practical skills. Therefore, the certificate courses enable the quick filling of the employment market with graduates who have specialized in their diversified fields (Field & Guez, 2018). The intense specialization of the students has often enabled them to be effective in their workplaces.
On the other hand, the four-year degree courses allow students to be major in several fields. As such, there is always minimal specialization in the courses that they pursue. While the minimal specialization may have a significant advantage in allowing the eventual graduates to conduct more organizational tasks, the aspect also leads to providing relatively low-quality services in the organizations. The aspect has often reduced the university graduates’ capacity to provide incredibly high-quality services.
Conclusion
The analysis shows that most of the certificate programs in technical schools have high completion rates. For example, 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 programs’ completion and retention rates are affected by factors such as financial difficulties and wrong course choices.
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