Is vocational education popular in America?

9 comments

1. Vocational education exists in the US and is a viable alternative to University. But it is not an alternative to K-12.

   It does have a bit of a stigma as you are “not going to college” but that is starting to fall away as the problems of student debt keep growing.

2. For some, yes.

   In my generation (graduated in 1995) vocational schools were largely seen as holding pens for kids who couldn’t cut it in traditional school or were delinquents. That stigma seems to be going away.

   Most districts have a vocational program or share one with neighboring ones, so yes, they’re very normal.

3. Yeah. Here is Massachusetts we have voc school available for all public school 9-12 graders. It can be a bit competitive.

   It used to be just where the stoners and behavoral issue kids went back in the 1970s.

   My nephew just graduated this year from one and is already working as a plumber making 40 bucks an hour at 17.

4. It still has an unfair stigma

5. If it answers your question, I don’t even know what vocational education is.

6. Sorta, but not as a k-12 replacement, its an alternative to college.

   Problem is the American social pressure right now is to go to college and take on massive student debt so you can get a degree that honestly doesn’t carry you as well as advertised, and most college courses now aren’t much more than diversity education with little sprinklings in of the thing you’re actually trying to learn.

   Trades are starting to bounce back in terms of popularity, since you’re learning something actually in demand instead of setting yourself up for a remote job as a department coordinator for some company that doesn’t *really* need you, but hires you anyway.

7. No, or at least not many that follow the model I see overseas. It does exist but not many take that route.

   It is quite common to take at least a few classes in high school that will transfer to vocational education or college, at least in large metros that have school districts big enough to support a bunch of options and some local vocational or undergrad schools to partner with. It doesn’t replace the standard K-12 in most cases, it’s just a matter of taking specific courses and maybe extracurriculars within that structure.

8. Still has a bit of a stigma for some. I went to a vocational school from grades 9-12 and then went off to college to study something completely different than I’d been learning in school. Many of my peers went right into the workforce, but plenty of people went to undergrad next too. I would have really suffered in a more traditional high school.

   The focus on Hands-on learning that came with what the vocational school had to offer was invaluable to my success as a teen. I really wish that kids would get more exposure to the options available to them before they head into high school.

9. Not really, unfortunately. It should be, but it often turns into a dumping ground for academically untalented students or behavior problems.