Questions to Ask Electrician Training Schools<\/strong><\/h3>\nOnce you have made a decision to obtain a certificate, diploma or degree, you can start to focus your training options. Since there are so many electrician tech and trade schools in the Newport News VA region, it’s imperative to have a checklist of criteria that each school must meet. The first 2 that we mentioned were location and tuition expense. If you have an interest in earning an degree online, then that needs to be a feature that your chosen school offers. And even though all three qualifiers may be important when making your selection, there are other factors that need to be taken into account also. Below is a checklist of those added qualifiers that you will need to analyze prior to selecting an electrical technical school.<\/p>\n
Accreditation. <\/strong>Many electrician vocational programs have earned either a regional or a national accreditation. They can acquire Institutional Accreditation, which involves the school’s programs as a whole, or Programmatic Accreditation, which pertains to an individual program, for instance electrical technology. Make sure that the Newport News VA program and school are accredited by a U.S. Department of Education approved accrediting organization, such as the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology. In addition to helping guarantee that you acquire a superior education, it can help in obtaining financial aid or student loans, which are in many cases not available for non-accredited programs. Furthermore, a number of states mandate that the electrician training program be accredited for it to be approved for licensing.<\/p>\nHigh Completion and Placement Rates. <\/strong>Ask the electrician training programs you are reviewing what their completion rates are. The completion rate is the percentage of students who enroll in and complete the course. A low completion rate might indicate that students were unhappy with the course and dropped out. It may also indicate that the instructors were not qualified to instruct the students. It’s similarly important that the schools have high job placement rates. Older and\/or more reputable schools may have a broader directory of alumni, which can 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 trade, but also that it has the network of contacts to assist Newport News VA students acquire apprenticeships or jobs.<\/p>\nApprenticeship Programs. <\/strong>Most electrician vocational programs are taught along with an apprenticeship or an internship program. Those participating trade and technical programs will help place you in an apprenticeship program within their network of electrician companies or labor unions. Ask if the schools you are considering have working partnerships with Newport News VA area electricians or electrical companies. An apprenticeship not only offers a rewarding experience by supplying practical training, but it also provides job opportunities and helps to establish relationships in the local electrician professional community.<\/p>\nModern Facilities. <\/strong>Confirm that the campus facilities and the tools that you will be trained on are state-of-the-art and what you will be working with in the field. If you are currently in an internship or an apprenticeship, talk to the electrical tech you are working under concerning what you should be looking for. If not, ask a local Newport News VA electrical contracting company if they can provide some pointers. Also bear in mind that unless you are willing to relocate, the school needs to be within commuting distance of your Newport News home. Take note that if you decide to attend an out-of-state school, besides the added moving costs there can be increased tuition fees compared to in-state residents.<\/p>\nSmaller Classes. <\/strong>It’s desirable that you receive as much personalized instruction as possible, which can be difficult in bigger classes. Ask if you can sit in on a few of the classes so that you can observe how large they are and experience the interaction between students and teachers. Talk with some of the students and get their comments concerning class sizes and instruction. Finally, talk to a few of the instructors and learn what their level of experience is and what certifications or degrees they hold.<\/p>\nFlexible Scheduling. <\/strong>Make sure that the class schedules for the programs you are evaluating are flexible enough to handle your needs. If you are only able to attend classes in the evening or on weekends near Newport News VA, check that the schools you are reviewing offer those options. If you can only attend on a part-time basis, be sure that the school you select permits part-time enrollment. Additionally, ask what the protocol is to make-up classes should you miss any because of work, sickness or family responsibilities.<\/p>\nConsidering Attending an Electrician School near Newport News VA?<\/h3>\n
Following is a little bit of background information about the Newport News VA area.<\/p>\n
Newport News, Virginia<\/h3>
Newport News is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. As of the 2010 census, the population was 180,719.[3] In 2013, the population was estimated to be 183,412,[4] making it the fifth-most populous city in Virginia.\n<\/p>
Newport News is included in the Hampton Roads metropolitan area. It is at the southeastern end of the Virginia Peninsula, on the northern shore of the James River extending southeast from Skiffe's Creek along many miles of waterfront to the river's mouth at Newport News Point on the harbor of Hampton Roads. The area now known as Newport News was once a part of Warwick County. Warwick County was one of the eight original shires of Virginia, formed by the House of Burgesses in the British Colony of Virginia by order of King Charles I, in 1634. The county was largely composed of farms and undeveloped land until almost 250 years later.[citation needed]<\/p>
In 1881, 15 years of explosive development began under the leadership of Collis P. Huntington, whose new Peninsula Extension of the Chesapeake and Ohio Railway from Richmond opened up transportation along the Peninsula and provided a new pathway for the railroad to bring West Virginia bituminous coal to port for coastal shipping and worldwide export. With the new railroad came a terminal and coal piers where the colliers were loaded. Within a few years, Huntington and his associates also built a large shipyard. In 1896, the new incorporated town of Newport News, which had briefly replaced Denbigh as the county seat of Warwick County, had a population of 9,000. In 1958, by mutual consent by referendum, Newport News was consolidated with the former Warwick County (itself a separate city from 1952 to 1958), rejoining the two localities to approximately their pre-1896 geographic size. The more widely known name of Newport News was selected as they formed what was then Virginia's third largest independent city in population.[citation needed]<\/p><\/div>\n