2018 Education

Page 38 2018 EDUCATION MAGAZINE LINCOLN DAILY NEWS MARCH 1, 2018 Traditional college not for everyone CONTINUED → T he traditionally assumed path in education these days is to finish primary and middle school, graduate from high school, and then attend a college or university. Pew Research Center says Americans are split on the purpose of that traditional college education. Of those polled, 47% said that the reason to get a college education is to learn work-related skills and knowledge to enter the workplace, while 39% said that a college education is an opportunity for students to find themselves, find their passion, grow personally, and develop the skills to think critically and learn, thereby preparing for life. While there is indeed value in this traditional approach to education and what you take home from it is beyond debate, this path may not be for everyone. Traditional college does indeed prepare you to enter the job marketplace in a general sense, and helps deepen your ability to think and learn, but is for most an indirect route to a specific job. There are alternatives today to the traditional college track that may make more sense for some individuals. They are known as for- profit colleges, or technical/trade schools. While traditional colleges and universities offer you a very broad education in a wide variety of disciplines including the arts, the sciences, history, humanities, and personal discovery; a for-profit/technical school education is very focused and prepares you for one single thing: a very specific job in a marketplace that is hiring. What you are earning in traditional college studies is a degree: an associates, bachelor or graduate degree which gives testimony