Find Electrician Schools Near Me in Santa Clara CA 95050

How to Become an Electrician in Santa Clara California

Santa Clara CA electrician inspecting circuit panelThe initial step to becoming an electrical contractor or tradesman is locating an electrician trade school near Santa Clara CA. But with so many vocational schools to choose from, just how do you undertake making sure that you enroll in the right one? Especially since there are so many factors to examine. For example, many prospective students will start by searching for schools that are nearby their home. When they have found several that are within commuting range, they will choose the one with the most affordable tuition. While location and cost are important, they are not the sole things that need to be evaluated. Also important are the accreditation and reputations of the schools, along with their graduation and job placement rates. These and additional qualifications should influence your ultimate judgment when choosing an electrician training school. We will discuss that checklist in greater detail later in this post. But first, let’s review a little bit about becoming an electrician and the educational choices that are offered.

Electrician Degree, Certificate and Diploma Options near Santa Clara CA

Santa Clara CA electrician re-wiring power outletThere are three general approaches to get electrician training in a trade or technical school near Santa Clara CA. You can select a diploma or certificate program, or obtain an Associate Degree. Bachelor’s Degrees are available at certain schools, but are not as common as the other three options. In many cases these programs are made available combined with an apprenticeship, which are required by the majority of states in order to be licensed or if you want to become certified. Following are short summaries of the three most prevalent programs available.

  • Diploma and Certificate Programs are usually offered by California vocational and trade schools and take approximately a year to finish. They provide a solid foundation and are aimed towards those who want to enter an apprenticeship faster as a journeyman electrician.
  • Associate Degrees require 2 years to finish and are offered by California junior or community colleges, usually as an Associate Degree in Electrical Technology. They offer a more comprehensive education while providing the foundation that prepares students to join their apprenticeship program.

As earlier stated, Bachelor’s Degrees are available at some California colleges, but are less popular at 4 years than the other shorter programs. Most states mandate that an apprenticeship of no less than 2 years and more typically four years be carried out prior to licensing. Therefore, most students are anxious to commence their paid apprenticeship, particularly if it’s not part of their educational program.

Electrician Licensing and Certification Criteria

Santa Clara CA electricians working on power linesElectricians in Santa Clara CA can carry out a wide range of tasks, such as installing, replacing and testing electrical systems, and ensuring that the wiring in houses and buildings comply with code standards. After completing an apprenticeship, journeyman electricians are mandated to be licensed in most municipalities and states. The length of apprenticeship differs by state, but normally around 4 to 5 years of experience is required before taking the licensing examination. The exams usually test general knowledge and electrical theory, in addition to understanding of the National Electrical Code (NEC). Obtaining certification is also an optional way for an electrician to distinguish him or herself as a experienced and skilled professional. The certifications available differ by state and may be earned in various specialties, such as cable splicing as an example. The certification process in most cases involves three levels of competency:

  • An experience requirement
  • Passing a written exam
  • Passing a practical exam

Examples of certifying agencies include the National Joint Apprenticeship and Training Committee (NJATC) along with the National Institute for Certification in Engineering Technologies (NICET). It’s crucial that the electrician vocational school that you choose not only delivers a solid academic foundation, but also helps prep you for passing any certification and licensing exams that you may need to pass in the future.

Attending Electrician Programs Online in Santa Clara CA

attending electrician school online in Santa Clara CAA possibility that you might have looked at is selecting an electrician online school to earn a degree or a certificate. While online schools are becoming more popular as a means of attending class without the need for travel, in this instance they are not completely internet based. Just about all electrician schools require some attendance on-campus to get hands-on practical training. But since the rest of the classes may be accessed online, internet learning can be a more convenient choice for individuals that have limited time for education. And as an added benefit numerous online schools have a lower tuition cost compared to their on-campus competitors. Commuting expenses from Santa Clara CA are also minimized and a portion of the study materials can be accessed online also. All of these advantages can make electrician online vocational schools more affordable and convenient. And many are fully accredited, which we will discuss in our due diligence checklist.

Topics to Ask Electrician Trade Schools

Santa Clara CA electrician re-wiring circuit panelNow that you have decided to obtain a diploma, certificate or degree, you can start to narrow down your school options. Because there are so many electrician trade and vocational schools in the Santa Clara CA region, it’s important to have a checklist of criteria that each program must satisfy. The first 2 that we discussed were location and the cost of tuition. If you are interested in earning an online degree, then that must be an option that your final school offers. And while all three qualifiers may be critical when making your decision, there are other variables that must be considered as well. Following is a checklist of those added qualifiers that you will need to assess before selecting an electrical technical school.

Accreditation.  Many electrician vocational schools have attained either a regional or a national accreditation. They can acquire Institutional Accreditation, which focuses on the school’s programs as a whole, or Programmatic Accreditation, which pertains to an individual program, for example electrical technology. Verify that the Santa Clara CA school is accredited by a U.S. Department of Education approved accrediting agency, for example the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. In addition to helping make certain that you get a superior education, it may assist in securing financial assistance or student loans, which are frequently not available for non-accredited schools. Also, a number of states mandate that the electrician training course be accredited for it to qualify for licensing.

High Completion and Placement Rates.  Ask the electrician training programs you are looking at what their completion rates are. The completion rate is the percentage of students who enroll in and complete the course. A lower completion rate could suggest that students were disappointed with the program and dropped out. It might also mean that the teachers were not qualified to train the students. It’s also important that the schools have higher job placement rates. Older and/or more reputable schools may have a broader directory of graduates, which may mean more contacts for the school to employ for their apprenticeship and job placement programs. A high job placement rate can not only validate that the school has an excellent reputation within the trade, but additionally that it has the network of contacts to assist Santa Clara CA graduates acquire apprenticeships or jobs.

Apprenticeship Programs.  A large number of electrician vocational programs are taught in conjunction with an internship or an apprenticeship program. Those participating vocational and technical schools will help place you in an apprenticeship program inside their network of electrician contractors or labor unions. Find out if the schools you are comparing have referring relationships with Santa Clara CA area electricians or electrical specialists. An apprenticeship not only provides a valuable experience by supplying hands-on training, but it also supplies employment opportunities and helps to form relationships in the area electrician professional community.

Modern Facilities.  Confirm that the school facilities and the equipment that you will be instructed on are state-of-the-art and what you will be working with in the field. If you are presently in an internship or an apprenticeship, check with the electrical tech you are working with regarding what you should be expecting. If not, ask a local Santa Clara CA electrical contractor if they can give you some tips. Also keep in mind that unless you are able to relocate, the school needs to be within driving distance of your Santa Clara residence. Take note that if you decide to attend an out-of-state school, in addition to relocation costs there might be increased tuition charges compared to in-state residents.

Smaller Classes.   It’s desirable that you get as much one-on-one instruction as possible, which can be challenging in bigger classes. Ask if you can sit in on some of the classes so that you can see how big they are and experience the interaction between students and instructors. Speak with a few of the students and get their opinions regarding class sizes and instruction. Last, speak with a few of the teachers and learn what their level of experience is and what degrees or certifications they hold.

Flexible Scheduling.  Make sure that the class schedules for the schools you are evaluating are flexible enough to meet your needs. If you can only attend classes at night or on weekends near Santa Clara CA, check that the schools you are reviewing offer those choices. If you can only attend part-time, make sure that the school you select permits part-time enrollment. Finally, check out what the policy is to make-up classes should you miss any due to work, sickness or family responsibilities.

Considering Attending an Electrician School near Santa Clara CA?

Following is a little bit of background information about the Santa Clara CA area.

Santa Clara County, California

Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is California's 6th most populous county, with a population was 1,781,642, as of the 2010 census.[3] The county seat and largest city is San Jose, the 10th most populous city in the United States and California's 3rd most populous city.

Home to Silicon Valley, Santa Clara County is a global economic center for high technology and has the third highest GDP per capita in the world (after Zurich, Switzerland and Oslo, Norway), according to the Brookings Institution.[5] The county's concentration of wealth, primarily due to the tech industry, has made it the most affluent county on the West Coast of the United States and one of the most affluent places in America.[6][7]

Santa Clara County is part of the San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area as well as the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland, CA Combined Statistical Area. Located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay, the highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley. Santa Clara is the most populous county in the San Francisco Bay Area and in Northern California, and is one of the most affluent counties in the United States.

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Enroll in the Ideal Electrical Vocational School near Santa Clara CA

Picking the right electrician trade school will probably be the most critical decision you will make to begin your new trade. As we have covered in this article, there are several factors that you will need to assess and compare among the schools you are reviewing. It’s a necessity that any electrician training that you are assessing includes a lot of hands-on training. Classes need to be smaller in size and every student should have their own equipment to train with. Classroom instruction needs to provide a real-world frame of reference, and the curriculum should be up-to-date and in-line with industry standards. Programs vary in duration and the type of credential provided, so you will need to decide what length of program and credential will best serve your needs. Every program provides unique possibilities for certification as well. Probably the best way to research your short list of schools is to visit each campus and speak with the students and instructors. Invest some time to attend a few classes. Inspect the campus and facilities. Make certain that you are confident that the training program you decide on is the ideal one for you. With the right training, effort and commitment, the end result will be a new occupation as a professional electrician in Santa Clara CA.

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