Points to Ask Electrician Vocational Schools<\/strong><\/h3>\nWhen you have made a decision to obtain a diploma, certificate or degree, you can start to refine your school options. Since there are so many electrician vocational and trade schools in the Lehigh Valley PA area, it’s important to have a checklist of criteria that each school must satisfy. The initial two that we discussed were location and the cost of tuition. If you have an interest in earning an degree online, then that needs to be a feature that your final school offers. And even though all three qualifiers may be crucial when making your selection, there are additional factors that must be considered as well. Following is a checklist of those added qualifiers that you will need to research before selecting an electrical technical school.<\/p>\n
Accreditation. <\/strong>Numerous electrician vocational programs have earned either a regional or a national accreditation. They may receive Institutional Accreditation, which focuses on the school’s programs overall, or Programmatic Accreditation, which pertains to a specific program, such as electrical technology. Verify that the Lehigh Valley PA program and school are accredited by a U.S. Department of Education acknowledged accrediting agency, for instance the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. In addition to helping ensure that you acquire an excellent education, it can help in obtaining financial aid or student loans, which are in many cases not available for non-accredited programs. Also, some states require that the electrician training program be accredited in order to be approved for licensing.<\/p>\nHigh Completion and Placement Rates. <\/strong>Ask the electrician training programs you are looking at what their completion rates are. The completion rate is the portion or percentage of students who enroll in and complete the course. A low completion rate might suggest that students were unhappy with the course and quit. It may also mean that the instructors were not competent to train the students. It’s similarly essential that the schools have high job placement rates. Older and\/or more reputable schools may have a more extensive directory of graduates, which may result in more contacts for the school to employ for their apprenticeship and job placement programs. A high job placement rate can not only confirm that the school has an excellent reputation within the field, but additionally that it has the network of contacts to help Lehigh Valley PA grads obtain apprenticeships or jobs.<\/p>\nApprenticeship Programs. <\/strong>Most electrician vocational programs are taught along with an apprenticeship or an internship program. Those participating vocational and technical programs will help place you in an apprenticeship program inside their network of electrician businesses or labor unions. Ask if the schools you are considering have referring relationships with Lehigh Valley PA area electricians or electrical professionals. An apprenticeship not only offers a valuable experience by furnishing hands-on training, but it also supplies job opportunities and helps to build relationships in the area electrician professional community.<\/p>\nModern Facilities. <\/strong>Make certain that the school facilities and the equipment that you will be trained on are up-to-date and what you will be using in the field. If you are currently in an internship or an apprenticeship, consult with the electrical tech you are working under regarding what you should be expecting. Otherwise, ask a local Lehigh Valley PA electrical company if they can give you some pointers. Also keep in mind that unless you are able to move, the school needs to be within driving distance of your Lehigh Valley residence. Take note that if you decide to enroll in an out-of-state school, besides the added moving costs there might be higher tuition fees compared to in-state residents.<\/p>\nSmaller Classes. <\/strong>It’s important that you get as much personalized training as possible, which can be difficult in larger classes. Ask if you can monitor a couple of the classes so that you can see how large they are and witness first hand the interaction between students and instructors. Speak with a few of the students and get their feedback concerning class sizes and instruction. Finally, speak to some of the instructors and learn what their level of expertise is and what certifications or degrees they have earned.<\/p>\nFlexible Scheduling. <\/strong>Make sure that the class schedules for the programs you are assessing are flexible enough to fulfill your needs. If you can only go to classes at night or on weekends near Lehigh Valley PA, confirm that the programs you are looking at offer those choices. If you can only attend on a part-time basis, make certain that the school you select allows part-time enrollment. Also, ask what the protocol is to make-up classes should you miss any due to work, sickness or family issues.<\/p>\nConsidering Attending an Electrician School near Lehigh Valley PA?<\/h3>\n
Following is a little bit of background information about the Lehigh Valley PA area.<\/p>\n
Lehigh Valley<\/h3>
The Lehigh Valley (\/\u02c8li\u02d0ha\u026a\/), known officially by the United States Census Bureau and the United States Office of Management and Budget[3] as the Allentown\u2013Bethlehem\u2013Easton, PA\u2013NJ Metropolitan Statistical Area and referred to colloquially as The Valley,[4] is a metropolitan region officially consisting of Carbon, Lehigh and Northampton counties in eastern Pennsylvania and Warren county on the western edge of New Jersey, in the Eastern United States.[5] The Lehigh Valley's largest city, with a population of 120,443, is Allentown.[6]<\/p>
The Lehigh Valley is the third most populous Metropolitan Statistical Area in the state of Pennsylvania with a population of 821,173 residents as of the 2010 U.S. Census.[2] The region is eclipsed in total population in Pennsylvania only by the metropolitan areas of Philadelphia and Pittsburgh.[2] It is the 64th most populated metropolitan area in the United States. Lehigh County, the Valley's largest county in terms of overall population, is among the fastest growing in the state and, as of 2010\u20132012, ranks in the 79th percentile for population growth nationally.[7] The core population centers are located in southern and central Lehigh and Northampton counties along U.S. Route 22 and Interstate 78. The Lehigh Valley is proximate to two of the nation's largest cities: New York City, which is about 75 miles to its east, and Philadelphia, which is 50 miles to its southeast.\n<\/p>
In March 2014, the Lehigh Valley was recognized by Site Selection Magazine as the second-best performing region of its size for economic development in the United States.[8] It was also ranked by Fortune in May 2015 as being among the top 10 best places in the U.S. to locate corporate finance and information technology operations for companies, such as call centers and IT support.[9] Allentown, the region's largest city, was cited as a \"national success story\" in April 2016 by the Urban Land Institute for its downtown redevelopment and transformation, one of only six communities nationwide to achieve this distinction.[10]<\/p><\/div>\n