I guess you have no idea why students go to trade schools??? They learn plumbing–electrician—auto mechanics —house building–brick laying— Employers want certification… They want people to do work…

The best advice is to speak to a academic advisor at those schools. Also look at the placement rates, meaning how many students are placed in stable employment after they complete the program at the trade schools.Do not accept any answer.get something in writting. Check with your state department of education to ensure the school is kosher, make sure the trade school is not a “diploma mill”, that is a school that is soley in it to make money. Those schools could careless about whether or not you are employed or whether or not how well you do when you are attending the school, They basically sale diplomas.

Getting a certificate might make you look lazy and immature to employers. One key advantage to a four year degree is the proof that you were willing to sacrifice and do the work in order to earn it. It’s a sign of character and dedication. Trade school grads don’t always necessaily lack it, but going to trade school might make it look like you were just trying to follow the easyiest path with a focus only on making money as opposed to a greater awareness of the world and bringing something to it. It all depends on the employer. A mechanic will have no problem becoming the foreman of his shop based on his trade school education, but he may never be able to rise higher than that if he works for a big company like say, Toyota. Without a college degree, he’ll never have a chance at CEO and will always be stuck in a shop environment.

A four year university program is designed not only to teach you skills and to give you insight into the background of your chosen trade, but also to make you into a well rounded person. University educations focus on teaching you quality critical thinking skills while also training you how to communicate well the things that you think critically about. All of the general education requirements, and the fact that they force you to take a few classes that have nothing to do with your interest, are intended to give you a broader knowledge of life, the world, and your place in all of it. Trade school only teaches you a way to make money while college teaches you about life. High-end employers respect people with a broad perspective and are more able to view you as a peer worthy of upper management, while a trade school graduate might always be looked down on as a worker bee stuck wearing a blue collar who never learned to see the bigger picture. Whether this is actually true ocviously depends on the individuals, but empoyers will pick the college grad over the trade school person if all other qualifications are tied.

Let me add that I know quite a few well-rounded college graduates who are deep in debt because they spent a ton on an education in a field that is diccifult to find work in. I also know a lot of trade school graduates who make tons of money. The key is picking a good career. Do something you love, but make sure it’ll make you money cause you don’t want to be broke and in debt.

You cant usually advance with a certificate, both at work and in your education. Associates degrees can usually be turned into a bachelors with two more years of college. 4 year colleges/universities won’t really care about your certificate.

**Certification is different than a certificate. Certification is when you take a test given by an independent organization to prove you are skilled in a certain area.

You get a certificate for finishing a part of a program and a diploma from finishing the entire one.

Diploma best.

Diploma programs have a higher standing with employers.