If you watch any daytime television, you are familiar with these names and their ilk. There are as many commercials for these types of places as there are for cars in the evenings. At these places you can learn to be a nurse’s assistant, plebotomist, medical biller, heck, even run the front office. You can learn to drive a semi, progam video games, design interiors and give people massages, all in less time than it would take at a regular college. The commercials go on to tell you how much more respect you’ll get from friends and family and that you’ll have plenty of money to buy clothes and cars soon after graduation. (No mention of using that money for school loans though. Hmmmm.) Oh, and you’ll be happy, happy, happy!
I’m a bit skeptical about how much one really learns and what kind of jobs one can really get with a degree from one of these places. I’m wondering what kind of experiences Dopers and Friends of Dopers have had. I know that YMMV depending on which school you go to, the field you choose and on your ambition and inclination to learn. What have your experiences been like and would you do it over again?
I did do a quick search on this subject but didn’t see anything on this subject. Forgive me if it’s been covered before.
My soon-to-be SIL went through a Medical Assistants program and when she “graduated” she learned that the school she was at wasn’t “certified” so she couldn’t apply for any real jobs… so she basically wasted $15,000 of her father’s money. She is now a receptionist/bookeeper making $9.00 an hour.
BTW, when I first heard she was going to this program I said to my wife that it was a scam and that it was unlikely she would ever get a job as an MA.
To be fair, perhaps some of them ARE legitimate but you better check it out closely and find someone who has been through the program, thought it was worth it and can recommend it, and has successfully found a job based on their training. I believe those people are few and far between…
Some of the private trade schools are definitely legit. My skepticism about them comes from the fact that I work at a community college and we offer all the programs you listed at a fraction of the cost. Our grads definitely get hired. In fact, we just hired a graphic designer who interned in our department as a student and graduates with her associate’s degree this coming Tuesday.
I got a Medical Assistant’s certificate through Pima Medical Institute, and it’s entirely legit. In fact, in one Urgent Care I worked at, they would only hire people through that program.
I’m pretty satisfied with my experience. I learned some skills that I didn’t have, I have opportunities that I wouldn’t have had, and it was easy to go part-time and still be a stay-at-home mom. Plus PMI has lifetime job-seeking help, and if I need a new job, I just call them up and they do a lot of looking for me.