Education for Life/

Vocational Programs

It’s the height of college application season, and many seniors are scrambling to finish their essays and get teacher recommendations. But attending a four-year college isn’t for everyone, and there are many other paths to career happiness.

Community colleges provide accessible and affordable occupational training. In addition to nursing, Moorpark’s Health Science Institute offers a two-year program in radiology technology that qualifies students to take the licensing exam to become a registered technologist.

An even faster route to a job in healthcare is the Emergency Medical Technical (EMT) training, which can be completed in one semester.

What about the student who wants to train dolphins or work with animals on TV shows? He or she is a perfect fit for Moorpark’s Exotic Animal Training and Management program.

Moorpark College also offers an unusual Industrial Biotechnology program, where students receive training in biomanufacturing and are also prepared for jobs in research and development.

Students interested in the fashion industry can attend a top school for about $10,000 a year. The Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT) is part of the State University of New York and offers 34 majors, including fashion design, advertising, packaging design, toy design, cosmetics and fragrance marketing. The school’s location in midtown Manhattan provides access to internships, required for many majors.

After earning an associate’s degree, students can decide to continue for two more years for a bachelor’s degree. FIT also offers housing, a plus for California students.

There are many private career-oriented schools, which cost more, but students may be able to get financial aid. The Art Institute of California-Los Angeles is one of more than 30 Art Institutes across the country. The Santa Monica location offers associate degrees in design, media arts and culinary arts.

Speaking of culinary arts, what could be better than learning about food in San Francisco? The California Culinary Academy offers an associate degree in Le Cordon Bleu culinary arts. This 60-week program includes a 12-week externship. The school also has programs in baking and pastry arts, as well as Le Cordon Bleu Hospitality and Restaurant Management. The Institute has sent graduates to work in many top restaurants and hotels.

If private school fees are too high, the state community college system provides an alternative. For about $2,000, students can get an associate degree in culinary arts, food service management or hotel management at City College of San Francisco.

There are also career universities, like Johnson & Wales, that offer two and four-year programs. Students can choose from business majors such as accounting, advertising communications, retail marketing and management, entrepreneurship, fashion merchandising and management. Other options include paralegal studies, criminal justice, electronics technology or website development.

Their “upside-down curriculum” has students taking major courses in their freshman year and hands-on training in the first two years so they learn about their future career and can make sure it’s the right choice.

Where a four-year liberal arts college or university offers a broad education and helps students develop analytical, critical thinking and writing skills, a career-oriented school prepares students directly for specific occupations. Many of these vocational programs include internships, which give students valuable work experience and professional contacts.

For students who have a clear vocational interest and who don’t particularly enjoy studying subjects not directly related to what they want to do, a career education could be the way to go.

Audrey Kahane, MS, is an independent college admissions counselor in West Hills. She can be reached at (818) 704-7545 or at audreykahane@earthlink.net.