What is Post Secondary Education

What is Post Secondary Education?

There are many different forms of education in the world today. There is primary education, secondary education and even post secondary education. Primary education is elementary school and secondary education is high school. What is post secondary education you might ask yourself? Any kind of education you plan on receiving after you graduate from high school can be considered a post secondary education. The possibilities are virtually endless when it comes to furthering your education after school. Whether you want to go to a two year college, a four year college, a vocational college or even something along the lines of trade school, it will be considered post secondary education.

Post Secondary Education

The first type of post secondary education that is extremely popular is a four year university. A large portion of the students who graduate high school go right into a university to attain their two year or four year degree. A two year degree is most commonly either associates of arts degree or an associate of science degree. The four year degrees are usually bachelor degrees in either science or arts. The best part about these degrees is that you can study just about any subject you can think of and receive a degree in it. Receiving a post secondary education at a four year university might be very common amongst young students but is also pretty common amongst older students. There are tons of grants and scholarships available to adults who decide they want to revisit their college years and seek out another degree. Post secondary education is for just about anyone who wishes to further their education.

Community College

Another type of post secondary education that is popular is attending a community college. These are generally two year institutions and are much cheaper than a four year university. These are great because they are an easy way to receive a two year degree. Most of them are located in the perfect spot so students do not have to live away from home. This will cut the expenses down as they are trying to save up for something big. Receiving your post secondary education at a community college is smart because you will have a two year degree under you belt. This makes it much easier to move onto a four year university. You have a better chance of being accepted to a university if you already have a two year degree on your record. Some community colleges and universities have a direct connect program that allows you to transfer into the university with no problem.

Vocational Education and Technical Colleges

If you don’t think a community college or universities are the routes you want to take, you can look into a career school, technical school or even a vocational school. These can be private or public and host tons of different programs to fit your needs. If you know the path you want to take but don’t want to spend six years in college, these schools are ideal for post secondary education. You can receive your certificate or license from these schools in less than half of the time you would spend at a university. These are great for people who work all day and don’t have the time to drive to a university. Most of these schools offer classes at night for the working students.

The technical, vocational, trade and career schools can be two-year or less-than-two-year schools. Instead of preparing students for a wide variety of careers and options, these schools prepare students for a career in particular. A great example of something you might find at a trade or technical school is a degree plan for a pharmacy technician. The teachers try to keep the students interested in the course by using hand-on techniques. A usual course plan for someone trying to become a pharmacy technician will usually be 8-12 months long. Throughout these months, the teachers switch up the course work so the students are doing something different each month. The main difference between these schools and universities is the length of the classes. These are usually a few hours long and at least 5 nights a week. This makes it easier for the students to achieve the degree they want in a minimal amount of time.

Pros and Cons

There are pros and cons to each individual post secondary education institution. The positive points for a community college are almost endless. These colleges give students the opportunity to live at home while attaining a two year degree. A college student wants to be able to save their money so they can eventually move out and live on their own. Living at home while going to college for the first two years will help these students save a ton of money. Another positive point is the level of difficulty the classes offer. Most community college classes are much easier to complete than the university level courses. The negative point to a community college for a post secondary education is some universities will not accept some of the courses you complete. If you take a certain number of courses at a community college, you might have to retake some of them once you transfer to a university.

The pro to attending a university right away is really experiencing what college has to offer. You wont find the sororities and fraternities at a community college or trade college. If you want to live out your college years by attending all of the fraternity parties, a 4-year university is perfect for you. The negative point to attending a university right out of high school is the cost. Most colleges are much more expensive than community colleges. Most students who attend a university are not living at home and will have to pay for room and board expenses on top of the tuition expenses.

All in all, post secondary education is anything you decide to do after high school that involves furthering your personal education. Whether you want to receive a doctorate degree, bachelors degree or simply want to attend a career school to start your career instantly, you will be attending some sort of post secondary education institution. Now when someone asks you “what is post secondary education” you can confidently answer them.